BERT   E.  COWAN  COLL 

l'l<  :  rO  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

I-.Y 

C.  P.  HUNTINGTON 


cIUNE. 


Recession  No 


Class  No, 


^T^f 


UNIVERSITY 


THE   GIANT   JUDGE 


OR  THK 


STORY    OF    SAMSON", 


THE 


SEBREI  HERCULES. 


BY  REV.  W.  A.  SCOTT,  D.  J), 


OF  SAN   FRANCISCO. 


"  There  will  I  build  him 


A  monument, 

With  all  his  trophies  hung,  and  acts  enroll 'd 
In  copious  legend,  or  sweet  lyric  song. 
Thither  shall  all  the  valiant  youth  resort, 
And  from  his  memory  inflame  their  breasts 
To  matchless  valor,  and  adventures  high  : 
The  virgins  also  shall,  on  feastfnl  days. 
Visit  his  tomb  with  flowers.  ' 

^^^      MnnonJi  Burying  Smnson. 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


SAX   FRANCISCO: 
H.     H.    BANCROFT     &      <J 

1859, 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1859, 

BY  W.  A.  SCOTT, 
In  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the    United  States,  for  the 


Northern  District  of  California. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


1  SAMSON  TAKEN  BY  THE  PHILISTINES, 1 

2  MANOAH'S    SACRIFICE, 21 

3  CLAY  TABLET  FROM  SINKARA, 166 

4  SAMSON  RENDING  THE  LION  AS  A  KID, 168 

5  SAMSON  FINDING  THE  HONEY, 177 

6  THE  FOXES, 216 

7  SAMSON  CARRYING  OFF  THE  GATES  OF  GAZA, 240 

8  ASLEEP  IN  DELILAH'S  LAP, 257 

9  THE  UPRIGHT  LOOM, 259 

10  BARBERS  OPERATING, 261 

11  PUTTING  OUT  HIS  EYES, 270 

12  SAMSON  GRINDING  AT  THE  MILL, 273 

13  DAGON, 291 

14  THE  FISH  GOD, 292 


CJNIVERSr 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  HERO'S  WONDERFUL  STORY  TOLD. 

Israel's  social  condition— A  Deliverer  promised— The  Angel's  visits— Man- 
oah's  solicitude— His  Sacrifice — The  domestic  conference — Samson's 
visit  to  Timnath  and  the  espousal— The  lion  adventure  and  the  bees — 
The  wedding  riddle  and  the  tragedy — The  foxes— The  hip  and  thigh 
slaughter— The  jaw-bone  massacre — The  giant  Judge  in  toils  at  Gaza — 
He  visits  Sorek — Surrenders  to  Delilah's  fascinations — His  repentance 
—The  fearful  catastrophe 29 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  HEROIC  JUDGES  AND  THEIR  TIMES. 

All  the  facts  recorded  in  such  a  part  of  the  Bible  as  the  "BOOK  OP  JUDGES" 
not  necessarily  of  a  direct  religious  bearing,  yet  of  great  value.  The 
times  of  the  HebreAV  Judges  a  striking  commentary  on  the  necessity  of 
a  permanent  government — The  term  JUDGES— They  were  magistrates — 
Jehovah's  lieutenant-generals— Represented  by  Stiff etes  of  the  Cartha- 
ginian and  Arabian  Sheikhs— Sheikh,  Rais,  Elder,  Captain  derived — 
The  JUDGES  were  not  hereditary  nor  chosen  by  the  people— They  left 
no  successors,  nor  had  they  any  predecessors — Samson's  history  most 
wondrous  even  in  an  extraordinary  age — His  whole  history  a  struggle 
between  duty  and  passion— a  conflict  between  the  fixed  principles  in- 
stilled into  his  mind  by  his  pious  parents  and  his  besetting  lusts— Our 
story  an  epic — "Samson  Agonistes"  a  splendid  drama— His  strength 
supernatural,  and  not  owing  to  his  hair,  or  to  the  size  of  his  body —  Giant 
only  in  strength — His  peculiarities  human,  but  developed  in  an  extra- 
ordinary measure,  as  Saul  was  of  the  people  but  above  them  in  stature 
—Samson's  spiritual  history  only  a  skeleton— Dr.  Bruce's  biography  of 
Samson — His  analysis  of  his  character — !Many  people  not  so  well  ac- 
quainted with  his  character  as  they  suppose— His  history  is  something 
more  than  that  of  "the  Scottish  Chiefs."  SAMSON  AND  HERCULES — 
The  disadvantages  under  which  the  Hebrew  is  compared  with  the 


VI  CONTENTS. 


Greek — The  Hebrew  is  the  original— Some  parallel  points  between  the 
Hebrew  and  the  Greek  Hercules— Authors  referred  tu  for  full  particu- 
lars on  these  points— Bible  biographies  are  truthful,  but  the  sins  of  its 
heroes  are  not  approved  of— The  apostle  commends  only  their  faith  in 
God 35 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  STORY  A  REVELATION  INSPIRED. 

This  topic  belongs  preeminently  to  our  times— Scottish  theology  on  the 
Scottish  mind— Hugh  Miller's  estimate  of  the  pulpit— The  ministry  has 
furnished  the  pabulum  of  Scotland— The  old  way  of  teaching  the  people 
still  desirable— Bible  biographies  chequered,  because  true  to  life  and 
adapted  to  our  capacities — Not  to  be  read  as  school-boy  tales  or  fanciful 
stories,  but  as  the  memoirs  of  the  lives  of  men— true  men  who  lived  in 
our  world,  and  lived  for  us,  and  with  whom  we  are  in  actual  sympathy 
— The  Old  Testament  is  depreciated  from  two  sources,  b.v  early  heretics 
and  by  over-zealous  converts — Spencer  and  his  opponents— The  true 
view  of  the  typical  character  of  the  Old  Testament — Indifference  to 
spiritual  religion  lies  at  the  bottom  of  this  neglect  of  the  Old  Testament 
— The  attack  of  Hume  and  of  the  French  Encyclopaedists  was  against 
Christianity — Now  the  attack  is  against  the  RECORDS  of  it— The  Bible 
contains  a  Revelation  from  God,  and  is  that  Revelation — The  Record  is 
reliable  and  its  meaning  can  be  ascertained — The  Bible  is  a  connected, 
harmonious  history,  and  not  a  myth  or  a  fable — Its  main  design — Short- 
comings of  its  heroes  to  be  expected  from  a  full  face  picture — The  inlirni- 
ities  of  Bible  men  faithfully  recorded,  but  not  approved — The  honesty 
of  the  writers — Morell  on  their  imperfections— The  Bible  not  a  failure.  51 

CHAPTER  IV. 

SAMSON'S  PARENTS— THE  HERO  PROMISED. 

The  Philistines,  whence  came  they  ?— The  name  PALESTINE  derived  from 
them — Its  meaning — Caphtor,  is  it  Crete? — IL\\Q  forty  years'  oppression 
• — Meaning  of  the  Lord  "  delivered  "  or  "sold  "  them  into  the  hands  of 
the  Philistines — "God  sovereign  and  man  free." — St.  Augustine  on  the 
sense  in  which  God  " hardens  "  a  sinner's  heart— God's  authority  the 
end  of  controversy — Samson's  father  and  mother— Their  character— 
The  angel's  address  to  Manoah's  wife — The  prohibition  laid  upon  her — 
The  Divine  rule  in  regard  to  supernatural  help — The  Na/arite— Not  a 
Na/arene,  nor  a  hermit— Bishop  Hall  on  the  temperance  of  Samson's 
mother — Special  holiness  for  special  divine  missions — The  IUTO  child 
only  "  to  begin  "  the  deliverance— Jacob  prophesied  of  Samson  on  his 
death  bed— Afllictions  are  God's  gracious  opportunities— Why  the  angel 
appeared  to  the  woman-wife  rather  than  to  the  husband — intense  dc^in- 
in  the  East  for  children— Dedication  of  our  children  to  God  -Their  edu- 
cation begins  before  they  arc  born— Hereditary  character,  ph\  sieal  and 
moral— proper  idea  of  training  youth— Parental  example-  Instruction 
and  prayer— Manoah  our  teacher— Where  we  may  find  help  for  our 
great  work— His  strong  faith  and  prompt  obedience 75 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

CHAPTER   V. 

CHRIST  IX  THE  THEOPHANIES  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT 

"The  Angel  of  the  Lord  "is  JEHOVAH,  THE  SENT  ONE— "  The  WONDERFUL" 
of  Isaiah,  and  the  same  who  revealed  himself  as  the  LORD  GOD  of  the 
patriarchs — God  is  invisible,  yet  has  made  some  manifestations  of  Him- 
self palpable  to  the  senses— The  Angel-Jehovah  is  the  Messiah,  who  is 
the  Christ  of  the  New  Testament— The  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  are  an  organized  and  complete  whole— a  revelation  from 
God  teaching  one  and  the  same  religion — Trench  on  past  development — 
Lee  on  Inspiration — The  Old  Testament  not  a  failure — THE  LOGOS,  the 
Eevealer  in  all  dispensations— but  especially  identified  with  the  Angel- 
Jehovah— The  Messiah— Christ  is  the  SENT  ONE  of  both  Testaments— 
Dr.  Mill  and  Olshausen  on  the  fulfilling  of  the  Law — Lessons  of  this  chap- 
ter— 1st.  Vindication  of  the  PLAN  of  Divine  Revelation— Our  Lord  ful- 
filled, did  not  destroy — The  Old  Testament  is  the  basis  of  the  New— It  is 
the  landscape  whose  beauties  can  only  be  seen  by  the  light  of  the  Gos- 
pel—2nd.  The  Old  Testament  therefore  to  be  studied  as  well  as  the 
New— 3rd.  We  are  very  near  to  God  in  both  Testaments— but  nearer  in 
the  New  than  in  the  Old — 4th.  A  pilgrim-like  air  is  breathed  upon  us 
from  Bible  studies— Are  we  travelling  home  to  God  and  going  to  meet 
our  kindred  that  have  past  over  Jordan  ?— 5th.  How  wonderful  and 
gracious  is  the  divine  condescension ! 101 

CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  FAMILY  SACRIFICE  AND  CONFERENCE. 

The  angel's  interview  with  Manoah  and  his  wife— Does  not  deny  that  he 
was  God,  but  speaks  and  is  spoken  to,  and  of,  as  he  appeared  to  be,  "  a 
man  of  God." — Manoah  authorized  to  offer  divine  worship— The  angel's 
name  is  "WONDERFUL  "—The  sacrifice  on  the  rock— The  domes- 
tic conference  after  the  angel  leaves  them — The  popular  idea  that  a 
man  could  not  see  God  and  live— Manoah's  alarm  characteristic  of  the 
human  heart— The  wife's  orthodox  reply — The  safe  rule — A  suspicion 
uf  God's  sincerity  in  the  Gospel  is  an  impeachment  of  his  infinite  good- 
ness—All needful  grace  implied  in  the  offer  of  a  SAVIOUR— Consola- 
tion for  the  aged 127 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  LIFE  OF  THE  HERO  BEGUN. 

The  name,  Samson— Divine  blessings  early  descended  upon  him— Divine 
influence  both  gracious  and  miraculous — The  same  Spirit  now  regener- 
ates—The Spirit  moving  him  in  the  training  camp— Great  hopes  not  re- 
alized—Plato on  the  importance  of  early  education— Neglect  of  family 
education  a  prevailing  error — The  tendency  to  lawlessness  must  be  cor- 
rected AT  HOME— Imperishableness  of  early  impressions — HOME  is  the 
fountain  of  sweet  influences — All  history  speaks  with  one  voice  on  this 
subject— Mere  institutions  are  not  sufficient— They  are  nothing  without 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 


character— The  "  tones  that  will-haunt  us  " — Randolph's  safety  against 
French  Atheism— Lesson  and  encouragement  for  ]>arents  and  Sabbath 
School  Teachers — Family  training — Young  men  govern  America — They 
arc  chiefly  educated  at  home— Retribution  on  parents — What  can  be 
done  to  prevent  crime— Sunday  schools  not  substitutes  for  home  train- 
ing— OUK  HOMES  must  be  saved— Home  the  seat  of  love 139 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

SAMSON'S  FIRST  LOVE  — THE  LION  FIGHT. 

The  visit  to  Timnath— Disappointed  in  Samson's  choice— "The  last  reason1' 
of  lovers — Force  of  "  she  pleascth  me  well " — The  pious  parents  yield 
to  the  head-strong  son — Still  Samson  was  not  wholly  wanting  in  filial 
reverence — The  Philistines  not  doomed  Canaanites— In  what  sense  his 
choice  of  the  Timnitc  girl  was  "of  the  Lord" — Was  Samson  sincere  in 
his  love  ? — God  is  sovereign  and  man  free— Samson  not  possessed  of 
prescience — Must  distinguish  between  what  God  moves  us  to  do,  and 
o\\.t  moving  ourselves — The  Israelites  had  just  cause  to  shake  oft'  the 
Philistine  yoke— The  damsel  betrothed — Oriental  custom  illustrated  by 
our  aborigines— Encounter  with  a  lion — Tablet  from  Sinkara — Such  en- 
counters with  lions  not  uncommon — Samson  not  "  a  tongue-doughty 
knight,"  but  a  man  of  deeds  rather  than  of  words 155 

CHAPTER  IX. 

SWEETNESS  OUT  OF  THE  STRONG. 

Going  to  the  wedding — The  pleasant  surprise — Hebrew  name  for  bees  ex- 
presses their  skill  in  government — It  is  well  to  observe  Providences — 
Samson's  astonishment  at  linding  honey  in  the  lion's  carcass — Virgil, 
Varro  and  Aristotle  on  bees  in  carcasses— The  lion  only  a  skeleton— 
Kimnan's  elk-horn  chair— Samson  did  not  violate  his  Nazarite  vow  in 
taking  the  honey — Christians  have  a  right  to  the  good  things  of  the 
world  which  God  gives  them  to  enjoy  with  thankfulness — Strange 
that  Samson  should  marry  a  heathen — Piety  is  the  glory  of  a  woman — 
M.  Thiers  on  the  women  of  the  Bourbons— Remarkable  deterioration 
in  the  stature  of  the  French  army— Causes — Polygamy  not  designed  in 
the  creation — Samson  had  been  a  better  citizen  as  the  husband  of  a 
Hebrew  woman— Woman's  influence  on  society 171 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  WEDDING  RIDDLE  AND  TRAGEDY. 

"  The  thirty  friends  "  of  the,  bridegroom  were  spies— Samson's  conformity 
to  the  customs  of  his  wife's  people— Christianity  does  not  teach  vulgar- 
ity—Woman's  presence  at  feasts  restrains  and  relincs— 7'A <ff/t-.  ;•<///  on 
female  society— Philistines  were  not  Turks — "linnqin-t  riddles,"  or 
"cup  questions  "—Aristophanes  on— A  lesson  for  our  merry  makings 
at  weddings— Samson  is  aroused  to  propound  his  riddle— "The  thinv 


CONTENTS.  IX 


sheets" — "The  nuptial  joy" — making  presents — His  wife  shedding 
crocodile  tears— The.  teasing  wife — The  oriental  proverb— Women  un- 
justly accused  of  not  being  able  to  keep  a  secret— Only  the  vile  tra- 
duce woman— The  riddle  solved— Joscphus'  paraphrase— Ploughing 
with  his  heifer— Its  meaning— A  nugget  from  Bishop  Hall— Samson  not 
a  repudiator— Makes  Askelon  his  wardrobe — Acts  not  as  a  mere  private 
citizen,  hut  as  civil  magistrate  with  the  Divine,  commission  in  his  hand — 
He  was  Jehovah's  lieutenant  general  or  high  sheriff— Did  not  violate 
his  Xazarite  vow  in  taking  the  spoil — Angry  and  proud  as  Achilles  he 
pays  the  forfeit  and  strides  off  home— His  bride  is  married  to  his  first 
groomsman— Marriage  a  sacred  and  solemn  institution— Divorces  not 
to  be  granted  for  slight  causes— The  lesson  against  mixed  marriages — 
A  wedding  as  solemn  as  a  funeral 185 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  JUDGMENT  OF  THE  FIRE-BRAXD  FOXES. 

Samson  relenting — His  disappointment— The  revenge— Cavils  about  the 
foxes  removed— The  fox  of  the  Bible— Numerous  in  Palestine — Samson 
an  expert  hunter — May  have  had  help  and  as  much  time  as  was  need- 
ed—Xo  miracle  required  here— Kennicott  and  Saurin  at  fault— Sylla, 
Caesar  and  Pompey's  wild  beasts — The  original  of  Ovid's  story  of  the 
Roman  custom  of  the  burning  of  the  fox— Hebrew  fire-brand  the  original 
of  our  lamps— Calmet  and  Kitto  on  the  appropriateness  of  the  agents 
of  the  conflagration — Corn-fields  vast  open  plains  without  intervening 
fences— Coyotes  could  do  the  same  work  of  destruction  here — Capt. 
Clapperton  on  the  burning  of  towns  by  buzzards— Dr.  Kitto  criticised — 
The  law  of  war— An  illustration  from  the  Comanches— Samson's  meth- 
od singular,  but  effective— No  authority  here  for  a  private  citizen  tak- 
ing the  law  into  his  own  hands— Xo  moral  guilt  in  killing  two  birds  with 
one  stone— The  fearful  law  of  RETRIBUTION— Keynard  versus  the  Phil- 
istines—The retribution  on  Samson's  wife  inhuman  and  barbarous — 
American  institutions  can  only  be  destroyed  by  the  fire-brand  of  dis- 
sension—The awful  rule  of  Providence— Modern  illustrations — Pfialaris 
and  Marat— True  principle  the  only  expediency — The  way  of  trans- 
gressors always  hard— Xo  fugitive  escapes  Heaven's  police— The  only 
remedy  is  pardon  from  the  great  Redeemer 205 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  JAW-BOXE  SLAUGHTER. 

"  Hip  and  thigh  "  explained— Principle  upon  which  Samson  slew  the  Phil- 
istines—Rock Etam— French  in  Algeria— The  Emir  Faccardine — Sam- 
son's countrymen  a  sad  spectacle  before  Etam — "Why  did  not  the  men 
of  Judah  rally  under  Samson's  banner?— Xot  excused  because  he  was 
a  Danite— Washington  an  American  though  a  Virginian— size  and 
strength  of  body  not  absolutely  inconsistent  with  mental  and  moral 
energy — The  perfect  man  is  "  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body  "—Sam- 
son's character  was  not  well  balanced— He  was  not  the  man  he  should 
have  been— The  new  cords  as  cinders— The  ptean— Ramath  Lehi— The 

A* 


CONTENTS. 


jaw-bone  less  cared  for  than  Rob  Roy's  gun— The  thirst— Josephus'  ex- 
planation—The fountain  not  in  the  jaw-bone,  but.in  the  place  called 
Lchi— The  lesson  from  the  Philistines  shouting  on  the  eve  |of  their  de- 
struction is,  that  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked  is  not  a  blessing— Delays 
of  Providence  do  not  change  the  demerits  of  sin — The  Supreme  judge 
punishes  from  principle— not  from  passion— In  the  Divine  government 
no  statute  of  limitations  debarring  process  or  execution  of  sentence — 
The  Divine  rule  of  judgments  is  like  that  of  grace — That  only  is  right 
•which  is  according  to  God's  will— The  long-suffering  of  God  is  salva- 
tion— Pardon  is  the  sinner's  only  safety 221 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  DREADFUL  RELAPSE  FROM  ETAM. 

City  of  Gaza,  ancient  and  modern — The  Gazite  woman — Rahab  a  zonah, 
that  is,  an  inn-keeper— Schleusner  on  the  term— Why  did  Samson  go  to 
Gaza  ?— His  danger  and  escape— The  Syrian  door— "  Who  shall  roll  us 
away  the  stone  "  explained— The  hill  that  is  before  Hebron— Review  of 
Samson's  life  from  the  top  of  the  rock  Etarn,  and  his  strange  descent 
thence  to  Gaza— A  revival  of  his  inner  life  in  Etain— His  mother's  anx- 
ious interrogations— Why  retire  to  Etam— Himself  reflecting— The  Spirit 
of  God  not  easily  discouraged— The  seed  may  be  long  sprouting  but 
not  lost— Affliction  'generally  necessary  to  recovery  after  a  relapse — 
Samson's  inner  life  not  peculiar — official  character  not  identical  with 
saving  experiences— Moses  prepared  by  solitary  meditation  in  a  wilder- 
ness for  his  great  mission — Samson  did  not  backslide  in  a  moment— His 
age  an  aggravation  of  his  fall  at  Gaza— Besetting  sins  die  hardly— The 
warfare  and  philosophy  of  success— Lusts  of  the  flesh  peculiarly  dan- 
gerous— Samson  went  to  Gaza  and  thence  to  Sorek  in  a  sadly  "  con- 
sumptive state  "—One  sin  leads  to  another— The  aggravation  of  Sam- 
son'a  case — Our  responsibility  great 237 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

SAMSON  IN  DELILAH'S  LAP. 

The  valley  of  Sorek — Samson  now  of  mature  age— His  weakness  for  Philis- 
tine women — Delilah,  her  name  significant — Her  pictures — Fancied  re- 
semblance to  Queen  Dido— Was  Samson's  wife— Philistine  lords— Na- 
ture of  their  government — The  large  bribe — Heathen  superstitions- 
Samson's  lies  and  vexation — The  beguilement  commenced — Delilah's 
vindication — Her  pleas  in  Milton — Dangerous  poets  and  essayists — The 
wife  disparaged  for  the  mistress — Solomon's  bad  company  explains  his 
sad  experience  with  womankind — Delilah's  curiosity  her  best  excuse — 
Withes, "  tugs  "  and  ropes— The  loom  experiment— The  oriental  upright 
loom  from  the  monuments  of  Egypt — The  secret  told— The  Philistine 
lords  summoned — The  fatal  sleep — Picture  of  a  man  asleep  upon  the 
knees  of  a  woman— Barbers— picture  from  the  monuments  of  Egypt— 
In  what  sense  his  strength  was  in  his  long  hair— His  terrible  mortitiru- 
tion— How  he  was  overcome — The  history  of  his  fall  not  incredible— 
Flight  from  such  temptations  the  only  safety 276 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER.  XV. 

A  GRIST  FEOM  THE  PRISON  MILL  OF  GAZA. 

Samson  a  prophet — A  Sebastapol  fall — The  sad  contrast  between  his  depar- 
ture from  Gaza  and  his  return — His  torturings  by  the  Philistines— Eye- 
punishment  in  Persia— Such  barbarity  common  in  ancient  times — Pic- 
ture from  Khorsabad— Fetters  of  brass— Ancient  oriental  implements 
chiefly  copper— Excelled  in  hardening  copper — Analog}'  between  an- 
cient Chaldeans,  Egyptians,  and  Philistines— Custom  of  keeping  prison- 
ers to  grace  a  triumph— An  illustration  from  Southey's  Brazil— Ameri- 
can aborigines  —  Samson  grinding  at  the  mill  —  Degradation  of  his 
emploj'ment— Ancient  mills— Sympathy  for  the  prisoner— Lessons  of 
gratitude  and  warning— I.  We  see  God's  singular  forbearance — Success 
not  impunity — Aggravations  of  Samson's  fall— Our  guilt  in  repudiating 
baptismal  obligations — II.  Samson  lost  his  strength  in  an  unconscious 
manner— Quarles'  dipt  dove — III.  Progressive  downward  tendency  of 
sinning — Begun  with  improper  use  of  his  senses — Consumption  of  his 
inner  life— Lost  his  strength  before  he  was  aware  of  it,  and  without  in- 
tending it— Character  is  always  a  growth — The  oak— The  fire-side  the 
world's  greatest  university— The  most  imperishable,  picture  is  the  first 
drawn  on  the  heart— FAMILY  CULTURE  our  greatest  hope— Our  Homes 
the  Republic's  imperishable  pillars— IV.  Our  reluctance  to  give  up  all 
hope  of  sharing  in  our  father's  religion  at  last— Samson  was  loath  to 
give  up  the  badge  of  his  consecration — His  heart  was  lost  before  his 
hair — The  gradual  process  of  coming  to  the  point  to  allow  our  locks  to 
be  shorn — Way  of  transgressors  is  of  necessity  hard — Purgatory  in  this 
world — The  winding  sheet  of  souls 278 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  FINAL  CONTEST  AND  TRAGEDY. 

More  hope  of  Samson  in  prison  than  in  Sorek— His  hair  begins  to  grow — 
Recovers  his  commission— The  outward  sign  corresponding  to  the  in- 
ward grace— Samson's  experiences— Milton's  description  of  the  feast 
to  Dagon— Cannes  is  Dagon— The  symbolic  history  of  Babylonia— Bas- 
relief  of  Dagon  from  Khorsabad— Dagon  on  the  doorways  of  Nimroud 
and  on  Assyrian  cylinders  and  gems— Mr.  Layard's  agate— Berosus, 
Lucian,  Diodorus  Riculus— National  deities— Philistine's  house  of  wor- 
ship—The two  pillars  explained—  Sir  Christopher  Wren's  solution — 
Such  edifices  common — The  fall  did  make  a  profound  impression— Its 
shape  resembled  a  horse-shoe — Ruins  of  Verona,  Nismes,  Athens,  and 
the  Colosseum  in  proof— So  also  Tacitus,  Pliny,  and  Dr.  Shaw— The 
summing  up  a  complete  vindication  of  the  text— Bible  histories  neither 
impossible  nor  improbable — The  errors  of  superstition— Consistent  grati- 
tude of  the  Philistines — Their  shouting  was  Samson's  signal  for  pro- 
found humiliation — Heathen  always  judge  of  our  religion  by  the  con- 
duct of  our  travellers  and  merchants— Samson  attends  the  feast  and 
makes  sport — THE  PRINCIPALS  appear  in  the  contest — Samson's 
agony — His  prayer— Resolves  to  die  a  martyr,  if  God  is  pleased  to  ac- 
cept him  as  such — Objections  to  his  prayer  answered— Principles  and 


Xll  CONTENTS. 


habitudes  and  not  emotions  and  dying  articulations  to  he  received  as 
proofs  of  our  acceptance  with  God — Samson's  catechism  was  not  like 
ours  ;is  to  the  lex  talionis—llc  had  not  the  example,  teaching,  and  dying 
prayer  of  Jesus  before  him,  as  we  have — His  dying  prayer  and  last  acts 
were  in  perfect  harmony  with  his  commission  from  heaven 287 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  EPILOGUE  AND  ITS  TEACHINGS. 

The  late  Dr.  Samuel  Miller— The  tree  must  not  be  too  straight— A  bow  un- 
bent makes  a  straight  jacket—  Clemens  Alexandrinus  on  the  love  of  the 
wonderful— The  Staqirite  also— The  stone-blind  not  so  hopeless  as  the 
willful  blind— Wonderful  tales  and  Fairy  stories  to  be  allowed  to  chil- 
dren—All the  books  we  want— Samson  a  necessary  and  profitable  study, 
even  if  we  should  prefer  another  for  a  hero— Milton's  Agonistes  not 
equal  to  the  occasion — Samson's  view  of  the  conflict— He  dies  not  as  a 
suicide  but  as  a  martyr— dies  as  he  begun  his  career,  fulfilling  his  com- 
mission and  the  promise  made  to  his  mother — Gaza  still  teaching — Its 
ruins  a  treasure-house— 1st.  God's  long-suffering  and  justice  illustrated 
— 2nd.  God  is  still  sovereign — As  truly  supreme  in  America  as  in  Pal- 
estine— 3rd.  The  divine  government  is  one  of  eternal,  immutable  princi- 
ples—These principles  are  as  truly  active  in  modern  as  in  ancient  times 
— In  Washington's  life  as  in  that  of  Moses — In  our  streets  as  well  as  in 
the  orbits  of  the  heavenly  bodies— Prayer  Is  therefore  as  availing  in 
San  Francisco  as  in  Solomon's  temple— 4th.  Retribution  follows  ex- 
hausted mercy— 5th.  Samson's  life  is  truth  both  objective  and  sub- 
jective—6th.  Sin  is  a  steep  and  slipper.y  precipice— Every  transgressor  is 
under  the  infatuation  of  sin — Whoever  indulges  a  sinful  desire  sleeps  in 
Delilah's  lap,  to  awake  shorn  of  his  strength— All  sins  are  links  together 
— Conscience  an  India  rubber  affair— Straining  at  a  gnat  and  swallow- 
ing a  whole  caravan — The  hissing  millstone  round  the  libertine's  neck — 
7th.  Samson's  character  badly  balanced — A  want  of  symmetry  a  great 
defect  in  Christian  character— 8th.  Constitutional  sins  peculiarly  dan- 
gerous—9th.  The  purity  of  the  marriage  relation  must  be  preserved — 
Our  Homes  are  God's  foundation  stones  of  national  greatness— Thorough 
training  and  instruction  essential  in  a  Republic-- Education  a  national 
as  well  as  an  individual  blessing — The  Ionian  islands  a  striking  illustra- 
tion— An  eloquent  paragraph  from  Macaulay — 10th.  Samson  is  a  pictorial 
of  a  mother's  anxiety  and  influence —  Washington  formed  by  his  mother 
on  Sir  Matthew  Hale 's  model— John  Qnincy  Ada'ns'  tribute  to  his  mot  her 
— Finally,  Responsibility  of  young  men  for  their  influence  on  society.. .  307 


PREFACE. 


THE  same  motives  that  prompted  me,  fellow-citizens,  to  offer  you 
through  the  same  publishers  of  this  city  "THE  WEDGE  OF  GOLD,  OK 
ACHAN  IN  EL  DORADO,"  influence  me  in  venturing  to  send  forth  the 
following  pages.  And  I  hope  it  will  not  be  considered  out  of  place 
for  me  here  to  say  that  I  am  profoundly  thankful  for  the  favor  with 
which  that  little  work  has  been  received,  not  only  on  this  coast,  for 
which  it  was  chiefly  intended,  but  also  in  the  East,  where  it  has 
already  gone  through  a  second  large  edition.  The  feelings  with 
which  "  The  Wedge  of  Gold  "  were  submitted  to  you  are  more  intense 
now,  because  of  the  increase  of  our  population  and  the  rapid  flight  of 
time.  I  frankly  confess  that  I  have  an  earnest  desire  to  preach  from 
the  press  to  those  who  are  scattered  and  toiling  far  from  home,  through 
our  mountains  and  valleys,  that  I  cannot  reach  with  my  voice;  and 
to  those  who  may  hear  it,  I  would  preach  again  after  it  is  silent  in 
death.  Life  is  uncertain,  and  at  best  will  soon  be  spent.  The  mere 
utterances  of  the  mouth  are  necessarily  circumscribed  in  the  hearing, 
and  even  when  received,  they  are  lodged  in  a  treacherous  memory. 
But  what  is  printed  remains,  and  has  a  chance  to  live.  Firmly  per- 
suaded that  the  purity  and  sacredness  of  marriage,  and  the  social 
elevation  and  well-being  of  families,  and  the  more  thorough  training 
and  home  education  of  children,  especially  in  new  States,  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  all  true  national  prosperity,  I  have  labored  earnestly  in 
the  following  pages  to  explain  the  history  of  Israel's  GIAXT  JUDGE 

• 

with  fidelity  to  the  text,  and  to  make  such  reflections  thereon,  as  1  hum- 
bly hope  may,  with  the  divine  blessing,  promote  domestic  happiness, 


XIV  PREFACE. 

family  piety,  sound  learning  and  true  religion.  My  only  hope  of  my 
country  and  of  the  world,  is  the  Bible.  An  earnest  faith  in  it  and  a  sin- 
cere adoption  of  its  principles  are  a  present  and  an  eternal  salvation. 
Our  artists  have,  I  think,  admirably  succeeded  in  giving  us  illustra- 
tions eminently  suited  to  the  text.  All  the  pictures  I  remember  to 
have  seen  of  Samson  and  Delilah,  even  those  of  Rubens,  Guido  and 
David,  are  historically  incorrect.  But  our  illustrations  are  strictly  in 
conformity  with  the  history  and  customs  of  the  country,  and  of  the 
times,  as  explained  by  the  best  interpreters,  and  by  the  latest  researches 
of  antiquarians  and  monument  readers 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  December,  1857. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IN  this  little  volume  I  have  a  definite  end  in  view.  I  candidly  ac- 
knowledge that  with  me,  the  reality  of  Bible  histories  is  an  indispen- 
sable condition  to  faith  in  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  Christianity. 
It  is  my  purpose  therefore,  so  far  as  the  subject  seems  to  come  properly 
within  the  reach  of  these  pages,  to  consider  the  history  of  Samson  as  a 
true  history,  explain  its  meaning,  and  apply  its  principles.  Unless  bibli- 
cal memoirs  are  strictly  true  —  a  record  of  things  as  they  were,  and  of 
facts  as  they  did  occur  —  if  the  men  named  are  nations  or  myths,  and 
not  individuals  —  if  the  miracles  wrought  by  Moses  and  Samson  are 
mere  natural  phenomena  or  figures  of  speech;  then  I  have  no  confi- 
dence that  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  are  from  God. 

I  am  well  aware  that  some  do  not  like  the  subject  I  have  chosen  — 
they  would  prefer  Joseph  or  Daniel  as  a  hero.  Others  are  ready  to 
pronounce  the  effort  as  useless  —  and  some  consider  it  as  "  an  idle  at- 
tempt to  collect  evidence  "  on  a  subject  that  does  not  admit  of  proof; 
and  others  will  charge  me  with  maintaining  most  uncritical,  ignorant, 
unphilosophical,  baseless  assumptions  in  regard  to  the  histories  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  literal  interpretation  of  the  scriptures.  But  as  Keil  in  his 
preface  to  Joshua  expresses  it,  I  am  persuaded :  "  The  great  want  of  the 
church,  at  the  present  day,  is  a  clear  comprehension  of  the  meaning  of 
the  Old  Testament,  in  its  fullness  and  purity,  in  order  that  the  God  of 
Israel  may  again  be  universally  recognized  as  the  eternal  G  od,  whose 
faithfulness  is  unchangeable,  the  one  living  and  true  God,  who  per- 
formed all  that  he  did  to  Israel  for  our  instruction  and  salvation,  having 
chosen  Abraham  and  his  seed  to  be  his  people,  to  preserve  his  revela- 
tions, that  from  him  the  whole  world  might  receive  salvation,  and  in 
him  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed." 

The  great  Augustine  in  his  one  hundred  and  sixtieth  sermon  is  correct 
in  saying  most  emphatically,  "INovumTestameutumiu  vetere  velabatur: 
Vetus  Testamentum  in  novo  revelatur."  If  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 


XVI  INTRODUCTION. 

is  therefore  the  only  way  of  Salvation,  the  historical  reality  of  the  Old 
Testament  must  be  fully  established.    It  is  true,  that  the  good  things  of 
which  in  the  old  economy  we  have  only  the  sliadoios  have  come  in  all 
their  precious  realities:  but  it  does  not  follow  that  the  old  economy 
is  wholly  obsolete.    When  a  fond  mother  folds  in  her  arms  a  living  s«  >n 
returned  from  distant  lands,  or  with  honor  from  many  a  bloody  field 
of  battle,  she  does  not  indeed  in  the  moment  of  transport  turn  from  the 
living  face  to  gaze  on  the  cold  picture.    The  artist  may  not  choose  to 
study  his  subject  in  twilight,  when  he  may  have  it  in  the  full  blaze  of 
day.    And  yet,  that  fond  mother  may  by  the  help  of  the  portrait  dis- 
cover some  line  of  beauty  in  her  son's  face,  which  she  had  not  observed 
without  it :  and  the  artist  may  find  that  some  sharp  and  simple  outlines 
of  the  mountain  or  of  the  palace  ruins  are  brought  much  more  impres- 
sively before  his  eye  against  a  twilight  sky  than  in  the  glare  of  day. 
The  great  truths  of  Christianity  stand  up  boldly  in  the  history  of  God's 
ancient  people,  just  as  the  lofty  headlands  of  a  dim  and  distant  coast 
are  seen  from  the  sea;  though  more  clearly  stated  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment.   But  the  distant  view  is  not  without  grandeur  and  importance. 
And  as  the  best  and  in  fact  the  only  way  to  remove  darkness  from  a 
room,  is  to  let  in  light,  so  it  seems  to  us  the  best,  if  not  the  only  way 
to  save  the  Old  Testament  from  rationalism  and  a  Christless  interpre- 
tation on  the  one  hand,  and  the  extravagancies  of  pietism  on  the  other, 
is  to  promote  its  true  understanding ;  and  in  order  to  this  we  must  vin- 
dicate its  authenticity  and  come  to  its  true  interpretation.    But  this 
cannot  be  done  by  ignoring  altogether  the  schools  of  Neological  criti- 
cism, nor  by  allegorizing  and  finding  types  of  Christ  in  everything.    I 
am  perfectly  sure  that  in  regard  to  modern  science,  historical  discove- 
ries and  antiquarian  researches,  we  may  rest  securely  on  the  position 
of  our  distinguished  countryman  (Lieut.   Maury):  "I   have  always 
found,"  says  he,  "in  my  scientific  studies,  that  when  I  could  get  the 
Bible  to  say  anything  upon  the  subject,  it  afforded  me  a  firm  founda- 
tion to  stand  upon,  and  another  round  in  the  ladder  by  which  I  could 
safely  ascend." 

Within  the  last  fifty  years,  and  even  within  less  than  half  that  period, 
wonderful  progress  has  been  made  in  nearly  all  the  branches  of  sacred 
literature.  Profound  grammatical  and  lexicographical  researches  have 
made  us  better  acquainted  with  the  Hebrew  and  cognate  tongues.  The 
customs  and  institutions  of  Oriental  nations  are  now  quite  familiar  to 
us.  Ancient  writers  and  monumental  records  are  interpreted  with 
much  more  accuracy  than  in  ages  past.  By  being  able  to  read  the 
hieroglyphic  records  of  the  private  and  public  life  of  the  ancient  Kg>  ]>- 
tians,  we  know  more  of  "  the  court  of  the  Pharaohs  than  we  do  of  the 
Plantagenets."  And  these  records  afford  important,  though  undesigned 
confirmations  of  the  historical  verity  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  enable 
us  to  understand  many  hitherto  obscure  Biblical  passages  and  allusions 
So  numerous  and  important  are  the  proofs  and  illustrations  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  XV11 

authenticity  of  the  historical  books  of  the  Bible,  gathered  from  the 
labors  of  modern  missionaries  and  travellers  in  the  East,  and  from  the 
readings  of  the  inscriptions  on  the  monuments  of  the  Nile,  Tigris  and 
Euphrates,  that  our  Bible  dictionaries  and  commentaries  will  all  have 
to  be  re-written.  Many  of  them  have  been  superseded  already.  Im- 
portant as  they  have  been,  I  hope  it  will  not  be  considered  ungrateful 
in  me  to  say,  that  the  chief  commentaries  in  our  language  of  a  former 
age,  are  destitute  of  the  refreshing  breath  of  science  and  without  the 
lights  of  such  patient  and  thorough  research  into  antiquity  as  charac- 
terises our  day.  This  was  rather  their  misfortune  than  their  fault. 
While  we  shall  ever  thank  God  for  their  able  and  pious  labors,  it  is  but 
true  to  say,  that  they  wrote  sermons  about  rather  than  expositions  of  the 
sacred  text. 

Most  of  the  old  commentators  are  too  much  given  to  spiritualizing 
rather  than  expounding  the  word  of  God.  We  cannot  have  too  much 
of  Christ  in  our  pulpits;  but  the  spirit  of  our  age  calls  also  for  his- 
torical and  critical  studies  in  order  to  the  successful  presentation  of 
"  Christ  and  him  crucified.1'  And  if,  in  preaching  from  the  sacred 
records,  we  dismember  them,  and  in  our  zeal  to  find  evangelical 
doctrines,  fail  to  apprehend  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  then  we  do  great 
injustice  to  revelation.  "We  should  avoid  extremes,  for  doubtless  there 
is  a  way  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  results  of  modern  criticism,  so  as  to 
combine  the  orthodox  faith  of  former  ages  with  the  science  and 
ripened  fruits  of  modern  times.  The  wonderful  discoveries  of  our 
day  furnish  such  a  weight  of  evidence  in  favor  of  the  historic  realities 
and  accuracy  of  the  divine  records  and  of  the  literal  fulfillment 
of  prophecy,  that  they  actually  form  a  new  and  extensive  class  of 
Evidences  for  Christianity.  These  discoveries  are,  however,  so  recent, 
and  so  diversified  and  scattered,  that  they  can  hardly  be  said  yet  to  be 
classified  or  arranged.  Nor  is  this  species  of  evidence  by  any  means 
complete.  But  enough  is  known  to  convince  candid  and  intelligent 
readers  that  the  ancient  historians  and  monumental  records  of  the 
East  do  furnish  us  with  remarkable  illustrations  of  the  sacred  writers, 
and  undesigned  coincidences  so  striking,  so  numerous  and  so  minute, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  escape  from  the  conviction  that  the  Bible  books 
are  both  genuine  and  authentic.  Let  it  be  kept,  however,  distinctly  in 
mind,  that  in  the  following  pages  there  is  no  attempt  to  go  over  the 
whole  field  just  referred  to.  By  no  means.  I  have  not  travelled  out 
of  the  sacred  record  concerning  Samson.  I  have  only  attempted  to 
sum  up  and  arrange  together  so  much  of  the  results  of  biblical  re- 
searches as  seemed  to  me  to  belong  to  the  life  of  the  Israeliti-sh  judge. 
I  am  aware,  moreover,  that  views  and  objections  bearing  upon  the 
"Book  of  Judges"  and  the  life  of  the  Hebrew  Hercules  have  been  put 
forth  by  Eosenmuller,  Eichhorn,  Maurer,  Paulus,  Strauss  and  others, 
adverse  to  those  defended  in  these  pages,  which  I  have  not  thought  of 
sufficient  importance  or  pertinency  to  be  named  at  all,  lest  it  should 


XV111  INTRODUCTION. 

seem  to  the  sturdy,  honest  Bible  readers  of  our  own  country  that  we 
were  fighting  men  of  straw.  And  besides,  if  we  have  succeeded  in 
vindicating  and  making  good  our  interpretations,  theirs  must  fall  to 
the  ground. 

I  do  not  suppose  it  is  a  valid  objection  against  publishing  a  book 
that  other  volumes  on  the  same  subject  have  preceded  it.  For  every 
man  has  his  own  anointing,  and  no  one  else  can  do  the  work  to 
which  providence  has  called  him.  Many  valuable  commentaries 
and  volumes  of  Bible  Illustrations  have  been  published,  and  those 
named  in  the  following  pages  are  especially  recommended,  with  the 
hope  that  if  they  are  not  already  in  every  library  and  family,  they 
soon  will  be.  It  is  but  justice  to  say,  however,  that  I  am  not  ac- 
quainted with  a  single  work  on  the  plan  of  this  one,  or  that  occupies 
the  place  it  is  designed  to  fill.  In  the  preparation  of  these  chapters,  I 
have  endeavored,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  to  saturate  my  mind  and 
heart  with  the  spirit  of  the  original  text,  and  with  the  writings  of  the 
most  approved  critics  and  interpreters  of  it,  and,  as  far  as  I  was  able,  to 
exhaust  them  in  whatever  I  deemed  available  for  explaining  and  pre- 
senting in  a  brief  way  the  true  meaning  of  the  narrative.  I  suppose  it  to 
be  the  duty  of  every  conscientious  interpreter  of  the  word  of  God  to 
study  it,  as  the  old  divines  express  it,  painfully,  and  to  use  freely  the 
best  helps  within  reach,  for  enabling  them  to  show  the  people  the  way 
of  salvation.  The  Hebrew  has  been  carefully  studied;  but  as  Hebrew 
Bibles  are  now  within  the  reach  of  all  who  desire  to  see  the  original, 
we  have  not  printed  it  in  our  pages.  We  thought  it  best  to  present 
the  edifice  with  as  few  signs  of  the  scaffolding  as  were  sufficient  to  give 
an  idea  of  how  it  was  built. 

The  collection  of  facts  and  customs  from  Bible  Lands  used  as  illus- 
trations of  the  text  have  in  most  cases  been  verified  by  my  own 
personal  researches  and  observations  in  the  East,  and  by  the  latt  >t 
readings  of  oriental  monuments,  so  far  as  they  have  any  bearing  on 
our  narrative.  I  have  sought  to  remove  objections,  and  to  bring 
home  the  truth.  Our  aim  is  the  conversion  of  the  heart  to  God  by 
pouring  light  upon  it.  And  if  it  shall  please  God  to  bless  the  under 
taking,  to  HIM  be  all  the  praise,  through  Jesus  Christ.  Amen. 


Sjcro's  Storg 


THE  ASCENSION  OF  Till-:  ANGEL,  OH  MANOAH'S  SACRIFICE. 

•'  When  the  flame  ;\cut  up  I      u  !  ';    •  feu  frc  a  altai,  (lie  .in^-1  '.'i  tin 

LORD  ascended  In  the  Haiut  •  )  tin.-  altar.'     Page  23. 


UNIVEBSITY 


UNIVERSITY 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  HERO'S  STORY  TOLD. 

"  Jewish  history  is  God's  illuminated  clock  set  in  the  dark  steeple  of  time." 

"  Most  wondrous  book !  bright  candle  of  the  Lord ! 
Star  of  Eternity !    The  only  star 
By  which  the  bark  of  man  could  navigate 
The  sea  of  life,  and  gain  the  coast  of  bliss 
Securely." 

JUDGES,  CHAPTER  xui. — 1  AND  the  children  of 
Israel  did  evil  again  in  the  sight  of  the  LORD  ;  and  the 
LORD  delivered  them  into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines 
forty  years. 

2  ^T  And  there  was  a  certain  man  of  Zorah,  of  the 
family  of  the  Danites,  whose  name  ivas  Manoah ;  and 
his  wife  was  barren,  and  bare  not. 

3  And   the  angel  of  the  LORD   appeared  unto  the 
woman,  and  said  unto  her,  Behold  now,  thou  art  barren, 
and  barest  not :  but  thou  shalt  conceive,  and  bear  a  son. 

4  Now  therefore  beware,  I  pray  thee,  and  drink  not 
wine  nor  strong  drink,  and  eat  not  any  unclean  thing : 

5  For,  lo,  thou  shalt  conceive,  and  bear  a  son ;  and  no 
razor  shall  come  on  his  head:  for  the  child  shall  be  a 
Nazarite  unto  God  from  the  womb :  and  he  shall  begin 
to  deliver  Israel  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Philistines. 

G  TT  Then  the  woman  came  and  told  her  husband, 


22  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

saying,  A  man  of  God  came  unto  me,  and  his  counte- 
nance was  like  the  countenance  of  an  angel  of  God,  very 
terrible :  but  I  asked  him  not  whence  he  ivas,  neither 
told  he  me  his  name : 

7  But  he  said  unto  me,  Behold,  thou  shalt  conceive, 
and  bear  a  son ;  and  now  drink  no  wine  nor  strong  drink, 
neither  eat  any  unclean  thing :    for  the  child  shall   be 
a  Nazarite  to   God  from  the  womb  to  the  day  of  his 
death. 

8  ^[  Then  Manoah  entreated  the  LORD,  and  said,  O 
my  Lord,  let  the  man  of  God  which  thou  didst  send 
come  again  unto  us,  and  teach  us  what  we  shall  do  unto 
the  child  that  shall  be  born. 

9  And  God  hearkened  to  the  voice  of  Manoah;  and 
the  angel  of  God  came  again  unto  the  woman  as  she  sat 
in  the  field:  but  Manoah  her  husband  was  not  with  her. 

10  And  the  woman  made  haste,  and  ran,  and  shewed 
her  husband,  and  said  unto  him,  Behold,  the  man  hath 
appeared  unto  me,  that  came  unto  me  the  other  day. 

11  And  Manoah  arose,  and  went  after  his  wife,  and 
came  to  the  man,  and  said  unto  him,  Art  thou  the  man 
that  spakcst  unto  the  woman  ?     And  he  said,  I  am. 

12  And  Manoah  said,  Now  let  thy  words  come  to  pass. 
How  shall  we  order  the  child,  and  how  shall  we  do  unto 
him  ? 

13  And  the  angel  of  the  LORD  said  unto  Manoah, 
Of  all  that  I  said  unto  the  woman  let  her  beware. 

14  She  may  not  eat  of  any  thing  that  cometh  of  the 
vine,  neither  let  her  drink  wine  or  strong  drink,  nor  eat 
any  unclean  tiling:  all  that  I  commanded  her  let  her 
observe. 

15  ^[  And  Manoah  said  unto  the  angel  of  the  LORD, 


THE  ANGEL'S  ASCENSION.  23 

• 

I  pray  thee,  let  us  detain  thee,  until  we  shall  have  made 
ready  a  kid  for  thee. 

16  And  the  angel  of  the  LORD  said  unto  Manoah, 
Though  thou  detain  me,  I  will  not  eat  of  thy  bread : 
and  if  thou  wilt  offer  a  burnt  offering,  thou  must  offer  it 
unto  the  LORD.     For  Manoah  knew  not  that  he  tuas  an 
angel  of  the  LORD. 

17  And  Manoah  said  unto  the  angel  of  the  LORD, 
What  is  thy  name,  that  when  thy  sayings  come  to  pass 
we  may  do  thee  honor? 

18  And  the  angel  of  the  LORD  said  unto  him,  Why 
asketh  thou  thus  after  my  name,  seeing  it  is  secret? 

19  So  Manoah  took  a  kid  with  a  meat  offering,  and 
offered  it  upon  a  rock  unto  the  LORD  :  and  the  angel  did 
wondrously;  and  Manoah  and  his  wife  looked  on. 

20  For  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  flame  went  up  toward 
heaven  from  off  the  altar,  that  the  angel  of  the  LORD 
ascended  in  the  flame  of  the  altar.     And  Manoah  and 
his  wife  looked  on  it,  and  fell  on  their  faces  to  the  ground. 

21  But  the  angel  of  the  LORD  did  no  more  appear 
to  Manoah  and  his  wife.     Then  Manoah  knew  that  he 
was  an  angel  of  the  LORD. 

22  And  Manoah  said  unto  his  wife,  We  shall  surely 
die,  because  we  have  seen  God. 

23  But  his  wife  said  unto  him,  If  the  LORD  were 
pleased  to  kill  us,  he  would  not  have  received  a  burnt 
offering  and  a  meat  offering  at  our  hands,  neither  would 
he  have  shewed  us  all  these  things,  nor  would  as  at  this 
time  have  told  us  such  things  as  these. 

24  f  And  the  woman  bare  a  son,  and  called  his  name 
Samson  ;  and  the  child  grew,  and  the  LORD  blessed  him. 

25  And  the  Spirit  of  the  LORD  began  to  move  him 


24  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

at  times  in  the  camp  of  Dan  between  Zorah  and  Eshtaol. 
JUDGES,  CHAPTER  xiv. — 1  And  Samson  went  down 
to   Timnath,  and   saw   a   woman   in    Timnath  of   the 
daughters  of  the  Philistines. 

2  And  he  came  up,  and  told  his  father  and  his  mother, 
and   said,  I   have   seen   a   woman   in   Timnath  of  the 
daughters  of  the  Philistines :  now  therefore  get  her  for 
me  to  wife. 

3  Then  his  father  and  his  mother  said  unto  him,  Is 
there  never  a  woman  among  the  daughters  of  thy  breth- 
ren, or  among  all  my  people,  that  thou  goest  to  take  a 
wife  of  the   uncircumcised   Philistines?     And   Samson 
said  unto  his  father,  Get  her  for  me;  for  she  pleaseth 
me  well. 

4  But  his  father  and  his  mother  knew  not  that  it  was 
of  the  Lord,  that  he   sought   an   occasion   against   the 
Philistines :  for  at  that  time  the  Philistines  had  dominion 
over  Israel. 

5  ^[  Then  went  Samson  down,  and  his  father  and  his 
mother  to  Timnath,  and  came  to  the  vineyards  of  Tim- 
nath :  and,  behold,  a  young  lion  roared  against  him. 

6  And  the  Spirit  of  the  LORD  came  mightily  upon 
him,  and  he  rent  him  as  he  would  have  rent  a  kid,  and 
he  had  nothing  in  his  hand:  but  he  told  not  his  father 
or  his  mother  what  he  had  done. 

7  And  he  went  down  and  talked  with  the  woman; 
and  she  pleased  Samson  well. 

8  T[  And  after  a  time  he  returned  to  take  her,  and  he 
turned  aside  to  see  the  carcass  of  the  lion:  and,  behold, 
there  was  a  swarm  of  bees  and  honey  in  the  carcass  of 
the  lion. 

i)  And  he  took  thereof  in  his  hands  and  went  on  eating, 


THE     RIDDLE     PROPOUNDED.  25 

and  came  to  his  father  and  mother,  and  he  gave  them, 
and  they  did  eat :  but  he  told  not  them  that  he  had  taken 
the  honey  out  of  the  carcass  of  the  lion. 

10  ^[  So  his  father  went  clown  unto  the  woman:  and 
Samson  made  there  a  feast ;  for  so  used  the  young  men 
to  do. 

1 1  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  saw  him,  that  they 
brought  thirty  companions  to  be  with  him. 

12  5T  And  Samson  said  unto  them,  I  will  now  put 
forth  a  riddle  unto  you :   if  ye  can  certainly  declare  it 
me  within  the  seven  days  of  the  feast,  and  find  it  out, 
then  I  will  give  you  thirty  sheets  and  thirty  change  of 
garments : 

13  But  if  ye  cannot  declare  it  me,  then  shall  ye  give 
me  thirty  sheets  and  thirty  change  of  garments.     And 
they  said  unto  him,  Put  forth  thy  riddle,  that  we  may 
hear  it. 

14  And  he  said  unto  them,  Out  of  the  eater  came 
forth  meat,  and  out  of  the  strong  came  forth  sweetness. 
And  they  could  not  in  three  days  expound  the  riddle. 

15  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  seventh  day,  that  they 
said   unto    Samson's  wife,  Entice  thy  husband  that  he 
may  declare  unto  us  the  riddle,  lest  we  burn  thee  and 
thy  father's  house  with  fire :  have  ye  called  us  to  take 
that  we  have  ?  is  it  not  50  ? 

16  And  Samson's  wife  wept  before  him,  and    said, 
Thou  dost  but  hate  me,  and  lovest  me  not;  thou  hast 
put  forth  a  riddle  unto  the  children  of  my  people,  and 
hast  not  told  it  me.     And  he  said  unto  her,  Behold,  I 
have  not  told  it  my  father  nor  my  mother,  and  shall  I 
tell  it  thee? 

17  And  she  wept  before  him  the  seven  days,  while 

B 


26  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

their  feast  lasted:  and  it  came  to  pass  on  the  seventh 
day,  that  he  told  her,  because  she  lay  sore  upon  him: 
and  she  told  the  riddle  to  the  children  of  her  people. 

18  And  the  men  of  the  city  said  unto  him  on  the 
seventh  day  before  the  sun  went  down,  What  is  sweeter 
than  honey?  and  whatz's  stronger  than  a  lion?    And  he 
said  unto  them,  If  ye  had  not  plowed  with  my  heifer, 
ye  had  not  found  out  my  riddle. 

19  ^[  And  the  Spirit  of  the  LOUD  came  upon  him, 
and  he  went  down  to  Ashkelon,  and  slew  thirty  men  of 
them  and  took  their  spoil,  and  gave  change  of  garments 
unto  them  which  expounded  the  riddle.     And  his  anger 
was  kindled,  and  he  went  up  to  his  father's  house. 

20  But  Samson's  wife  was  given  to  his  companion, 
whom  he  had  used  as  his  friend. 

JUDGES,  CHAP.  xv. — 1  But  it  came  to  pass  within 
a  while  after,  in  the  time  of  wheat  harvest,  that  Samson 
visited  his  wife  with  a  kid;  and  he  said,  I  will  go  in  to 
my  wife  into  the  chamber.  But  her  father  would  not 
suffer  him  to  go  in. 

2  And  her  father  said,  I  verily  thought  that  thou  hadst 
utterly  hated  her;  therefore  I  gave  her  to  thy  companion: 
is  not  her  younger  sister  fairer  than  she?  take  her,  I 
pray  thee,  instead  of  her. 

3  ^f  And  Samson  said  concerning  them,  Now  shall  I 
be  more  blameless  than  the  Philistines,  though  I  do  them 

o 

a  displeasure. 

4  And  Samson  went  and  caught  three  hundred  fox<-, 
and  took  firebrands,  and  turned  tail  to  tail,  and  put  a 
firebrand  in  the  midst  between  two  tails. 

5  And  when  he  had  set  the  brands  on  fire,  he  let  them 
go  into  the  standing  corn  of  the  Philistines,  and  burnt 


SAMSON  ON  THE  ROCK  ETAM.  27 

up  both  the  shocks,  and  also  the  standing  corn,  with  the 
vineyards  and  olives. 

6  1T  Then  the  Philistines  said,  Who  hath  done  this? 
And  they  answered,  Samson,  the  son  in  law  of  the  Tim- 
nite,  because  he  had  taken  his  wife,  and  given  her  to 
his  companion.     And  the  Philistines  came  up,  and  burnt 
her  and  her  father  with  fire. 

7  H  And  Samson  said  unto  them,  Though  ye  have 
done  this,  yet  will  I  be  avenged  of  you,  and  after  that  I 
will  cease. 

8  And  he  smote  them  hip  and  thigh  with  a  great 
slaughter :  and  he  went  down  and  dwelt  in  the  top  of  the 
rock  Etam. 

9  ^[  Then  the  Philistines  went  up,  and  pitched   in 
Judah,  and  spread  themselves  in  Lehi. 

10  And  the  men  of  Judah  said.  Why  are  ye  come  up 
against  us?     And  they  answered,  To  bind  Samson  are 
we  come  up,  to  do  to  him  as  he  hath  done  to  us. 

11  Then-  three  thousand  men  of  Judah  went  to  the 
top  of  the  rock  Etam,  and  said  to  Samson,  Knowest  thou 
not  that  the  Philistines  are  rulers  over  us  ?  what  is  this 
that  thou  hast  done  unto  us?     And  he  said  unto  them, 
As  they  did  unto  me,  so  have  I  done  unto  them. 

12  And  they  said  unto  him,  We  are  come  down  to 
bind  thee,  that  we  may  deliver  thee  into  the  hand  of  the 
Philistines.     And  Samson  said  unto  them,  Swear  unto 
me,  that  ye  will  not  fall  upon  me  yourselves. 

13  And   they   spake   unto  him,  saying,  No;  but  we 
will  bind  thee  fast,  and  deliver  thee  into  their  hand :  but 
surely  we  will  not  kill  thee.     And  they  bound  him  with 
two  new  cords,  and  brought  him  up  from  the  rock. 

14  ^  And  when  he  came  unto  Lehi,  the  Philistines 


28  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

shouted  against  him :  and  the  Spirit  of  the  LORD  came 
mightily  upon  him,  and  the  cords  that  were  upon  his 
arms  became  as  flax  that  was  burnt  with  fire,  and  his 
bands  loosed  from  off  his  hands. 

15  And  he  found  a  new  jawbone  of  an  ass,  and  put 
forth  his  hand  and  took  it,  and  slew  a  thousand  men 
therewith. 

16  And  Samson  said,  With  the  jawbone  of  an  ass, 
heaps  upon  heaps,  with  the  jaw  of  an  ass  have  I  slain  a 
thousand  men. 

17  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  had  made  an  end 
of  speaking,  that  he   cast  away  the  jawbone  out  of  his 
hand,  and  called  that  place  Ramath-lehi. 

18  If  And  he  was  sore  athirst,  and  called  on  the  Lord 
and  said,  Thou  hast  given  this  great  deliverance  into  the 
hand  of   thy  servant :  and   now  shall  I  die  for  thirst, 
and  fall  into  the  hand  of  the  uncircumcised  ? 

19  But  God  clave  an  hollow  place  that  was  in  the 
jaw,  and  there  came  water  thereout ;  and  when  he  had 
drunk,  his  spirit  came  again,  and  he  revived :  wherefore 
he  called  the  name  thereof  En-hak-kore,  which  is  in 
Lehi  unto  this  day. 

20  And  he  judged  Israel  in  the  days  of  the  Philis- 
tines twenty  years. 

JUDGES,  CHAPTER  xvi. — 1     Then  went  Samson  to 
Gaza,  and  saw  there  an  harlot,  and  went  in  unto  her. 

2  And  it  was  told   the   Gazites,  saying,    Samson  is 
come  hither.     And  they  compassed  him  in,  and  laid  wait 
for  him  all  night  in  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  were  quiet 
all  the  night,  saying,  in  the  morning,  when  it  is  day,  we 
shall  kill  him. 

3  And  Samsom  lay  till  midnight,  and  arose  at  mid- 


THE   JUDGE    IN    DELILAH'S    TOILS.  29 

night,  and  took  the  doors  of  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  the 
two  posts,  and  went  away  with  them,  bar  and  all,  and 
put  them  upon  his  shoulders,  and  carried  them  up  to  the 
top  of  an  hill  that  is  before  Hebron. 

4  ^[  And  it  came  to  pass  afterwards,  that  he  loved  a 
woman  in  the  valley  of  Sorek,  whose  name  was  Delilah. 

5  And  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  came  up  unto  her, 
and  said  unto  her,  Entice  him,  and  see  wherein  his  great 
strength    lieth,   and   by   what   means   we  may   prevail 
against  him,  that  we  may  bind  him  to  afflict  him  :  and 
we  will  give  thee  every  one  of  us  eleven  hundred  pieces 
of  silver. 

6  ^f  And  Delilah  said  to  Samson,  Tell  me,  I  pray 
thee,  wherein  thy  great  strength  lieth,  and  wherewith 
thou  mightest  be  bound  to  afflict  thee. 

7  And  Samson  said  unto  her,  If  they  bind  me  with 
seven  green  withes  that  w^ere  never  dried,  then  shall  I  be 
weak,  and  be  as  another  man. 

8  Then  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  brought  up  to  her 
seven  green  withes  which  had  not  been  dried,  and  she 
bound  him  with  them. 

9  Now  there  were  men  lying  in  wait,  abiding  with 
her  in  the  chamber.    And  she  said  unto  him,  The  Philis- 
tines be  upon  thee,  Samson.     And  he  brake  the  withes, 
as  a  thread  of  tow  is  broken  when  it  toucheth  the  fire. 
So  his  strength  was  not  known. 

o 

10  And  Delilah  said  unto  Samson,  Behold,  thou  hast 
mocked  me,  and  told  me  lies :  now  tell  me,  I  pray  thee, 
wherewith  thou  mightest  be  bound. 

11  And  he  said  unto  her,  If  they  bind  me  fast  with 
new  ropes  that  never  were  occupied,  then  shall  I  be 
weak,  and  be  as  another  man. 


30  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

12  Delilah  therefore  took  new  ropes,  and  bound  him 
therewith,  and  said  unto  him,  The  Philistines  be  upon 
thee,  Samson.     And  there  were  liers  in  wait  abiding  in 
the  chamber.     And  he  brake  them  from  off  his  arms 
like  a  thread. 

13  And  Delilah  said  unto  Samson,  Hitherto  thou  hast 
mocked  me,  and  told  me  lies :  tell  me  wherewith  thou 
mightest  be  bound.     And  he   said   unto   her,  If  thou 
weavest  the  seven  locks  of  my  head  with  the  web. 

14  And  she  fastened  it  with  the  pin,  and   said  unto 
him,  The   Philistines  be  upon  thee,  Samson.     And  he 
awaked  out  of  his  sleep,  and  went  away  with  the  pin  of 
the  beam,  and  with  the  web. 

15  ^[  And  she  said  unto  him,    How  canst  thou  say,  I 
love  thee,  when  thine  heart  is  not  with  me  ?  thou  hast 
mocked  me  these  three  times,  and  hast  not  told  me 
wherein  thy  great  strength  lieth. 

16  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  she  pressed  him  daily 
with  her  words,  and  urged  him,  so  that  his  soul  was 
vexed  unto  death  ; 

17  That  he  told  her  all  his  heart,  and  said  unto  her, 
There  hath  not  come  a  razor  upon  mine  head ;  for  I 
have  been  a  Nazarite  unto  God  from  my  mother's  womb  : 
if  I  be  shaven,  then  my  strength  will  go  from,  me,  and  I 
shall  become  weak,  and  be  like  any  other  man. 

18  And  when  Delilah  saw  that  he  had  told  her  all 
his  heart,  she  sent  and  called  for  the  lords  of  the  Philis- 
tines, saying,  come  up  this  once,  for  he  hath  shewed  me 
all  his  heart.     Then  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  came  up 
unto  her,  and  brought  money  in  their  hand. 

19  And  she  made   him  sleep   upon  her  knees  ;  and 
she  called  for  a  man,  and  she  caused  him  to  shave  off 


THE  HERO  JUDGE  TAKEN.  31 

the  seven   locks  of  his  head ;  and   she  began  to  afflict 
him,  and  his  strength  went  from  him. 

20  And  she  said,  The  Philistines  be  upon  thee,  Sam- 
son.    And  he  awoke  out  of  his  sleep,  and  said,  I  will  go 
out  as  at  other  times  before,  and  shake  myself.     And  he 
wist  not  that  the  Lord  was  departed  from  him. 

21  ^[  But  the  Philistines  took  him  and  put  out  his 
eyes,  and  brought  him   down  to  Gaza,  and  bound  him 
with  fetters  of  brass ;  and  he   did  grind  in  the  prison 
house. 

22  Howbeit  the  hair  of  his  head  began  to  grow  again 
after  he  was  shaven. 

23  Then  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  gathered  them 
together  for  to  offer  a  great  sacrifice  unto  Dagon  their 
god,  and  to  rejoice  ;  for  they  said,  Our  god  hath  deliv- 
ered Samson  our  enemy  into  our  hand. 

24  And  when  the  people  saw  him,  they  praised  their 
god  :  for  they  said,  Our  god  hath  delivered  into  our 
hands  our  enemy,  and  the  destroyer  of  our  country, 
which  slew  many  of  us. 

25  And  it  came   to   pass,   when   their   hearts    were 
merry,  that  they  said,  Call  for  Samson,  that  he  may 
make  us  sport.     And  they  called  for  Samson  out  of  the 
prison  house  ;  and  he  made   them   sport :  and   they  set 
him  between  the  pillars. 

26  And  Samson  said  unto  the   lad  that   held  him  by 
the  hand,  Suffer  me  that  I  may  feel  the  pillars  where- 
upon the  house  standeth,  that  I  may  lean  upon  them. 

27  Now  the  house  was  full  of  men  and  women  ;  and 
all  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  were  there  ;  and  there 
were  upon  the  roof  about  three  thousand  men  and  women, 
that  beheld  while  Samson  made  sport. 


32  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

28  And  Samson  called  unto  the  Lord,  and  said,  O 
Lord  God,  remember  me,  I  pray  thee,  and  strengthen 
me,  I  pray  thee,  only  this   once,  O  God,  that  I  may  be 
at  once  avenged  of  the  Philistines  for  my  two  eyes. 

29  And  Samson  took  hold  of  the  two  middle  pillars 
upon  which  the  house  stood,  and  on  which  it  was  borne 
up,  of  the  one  with  his  right  hand,  and  of  the  other  with 
his  left. 

30  And  Samson  said,  Let  me  die  with  the  Philistines. 
And  he  bowed  himself  with  all  his  might ;  and  the  house 
fell  upon  the  lords,  and  upon  all  the  people  that  ivere 
therein.     So  the   dead  which  he  slew  at  his  death  were 
more  than  they  which  he  slew  in  his  life. 

31  Then  his  brethren  and  all  the  house  of  his  father 
came  down,  and  took  him  and  brought  him  up,  and  buried 
him  between  Zorah  and  Eshtaol  in  the  burying-place  of 
Manoah  his  father.     And  he  judged  Israel  twenty  years. 


'  Living  or  dying  them  hast  fulfill'd 
The  work  for  which  thou  wast  foretold 
To  Israel,  and  now  l.y'st  victorious 

in  death  conjoined 

With  thy  slaughter'd  foes,  in  number  more 
Than  all  thy  life  hath  slain  before." 


O 


erok  fakes  aito  fljeir  Cimes. 

-'  x«—         rv  0 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  HEROIC  JUDGES  AND  THEIR  TIMES. 

"  Know  ye  the  land  where  the  cypress  and  myrtle, 

Are  emblems  of  deeds  that  were  done  in  their  clime, 
Where  the  rage  of  the  vulture,  the  love  of  the  turtle, 
Now  melt  into  sorrow,  now  madden  to  crime  ?" 

Bride  of  Abydos. 

And  what  shall  I  more  say  ?  for  the  time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  Gideon,  and 
of  Barak,  and  of  Samson,  and  of  Jephthah ;  of  David  also,  and  Samuel,  and 
of  the  prophets  :  Who  through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  righteous- 
ness. *  *  *  *  And  these  all,  having  obtained  a  good  report  through 
faith,  received  not  the  promise  :  God  having  provided  some  better  thing  for  us, 
that  they  without  us  should  not  be  made  perfect. — Hebrews  xi,  32-40. 

As  the  Life  and  Exploits  of  Israel's  GIANT  JUDGE 
are  described  in  "  the  Book  of  Judges,"  and  as  he  was 
himself  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  this  extraordinary 
class  of  men,  it  may  be  well  to  say  something  of  these 
heroic  Judges  and  of  their  Times.  Their  history  is  an 
important  link  in  Israel's  ancient  story.  For  though 
some  of  the  facts  here  recorded  seem  not  to  have  a  direct 
religious  interest,  still  as  fragments  of  family  and  national 
history,  they  are  exceedingly  valuable.  It  was  import- 
ant, at  least  until  the  Messiah  should  come,  to  preserve 
the  distinctive  tribal  lines  and  history  of  the  Hebrews. 
And  even  in  our  times,  apparently  unimportant  facts 
recorded  in  the  earlier  books  of  the  Bible  have  been  of 


36  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

great  value  in  ethnology  and  philology,  and  for  the  gen- 
eral history  of  mankind. 

In  the  history  of  "  The  Judges,"  we  have  a  striking 
picture  of  the  disorder  and  dangers  of  a  country  without 
a  well  established  government.  In  those  days  when  the 
people  had  no  "  vision,"  that  is,  when  they  were  without 
prophets  to  instruct  them  ;  and  when  there  was  no  gov- 
ernment, but  "  every  one  did  that  which  was  right  in 
his  own  eyes  :" — then,  "  the  highways  were  unoccupied, 
and  the  travellers  walked  through  by-ways."  There 
is  no  liberty,  where  there  is  no  law.  There  is  no  pro- 
tection for  property  "  throughout  the  purple  land,  where 
law  secures  not  life." 

Hebrew  for  Judges  is  from  the  verb  to  judge,  discern, 
command,  ride,  execute  punishment.  In  the  East  judg- 
ing and  ruling  were  generally  connected.  And  sitting 
in  judgment  is  still  one  of  the  principal  duties  of  an 
oriental  sovereign.  The  term  JUDGES  when  used  in 
the  Bible  in  reference  to  those  heroes  that  God  raised 
up  between  the  days  of  Joshua  and  David  to  be  the 
saviors  of  their  country  is  equivalent  to  Rulers.  And 
this  is  the  common  use  of  the  term,  Judges,  in  the  days 
of  Samson,  and  up  to  the  gift  of  a  King.  It  appears 
from  the  life  of  Samuel,  however,  and  also  from  Judges 
iv :  5,  that  these  Judges  (Shophetim)  did  sometimes  act 
as  Judges  merely,  and  not  as  judges  and  executioners 
of  their  own  sentences.  The  main  idea  then  of  these 
Judges,  is  not  the  literal  one  of  a  judge  seated  on  a 
judicial  bench,  and  pronouncing  the  sentence  of  the  law 
in  criminal  cases.  They  were  chief  magistral <  ~.  The. 
Judge  for  the  time  being  was  the  head  of  the  nation. 
Jehovah  was  the  King ;  the  government  was  a  The- 


THE    JUDGES    AND    THE    SHEIKHS.  37 

ocracy,  and  the  Judges  were  his  Lieutenant  Generals, 
or  his  Deputies.  According  to  Gesenius  the  name 
Sujffetes  among  the  Carthagenians  is  of  the  same  origin. 
The  chiefs  of  the  Tyrians,  the  Archons  of  Athens,  and  the 
Dictators  of  the  Romans,  were  essentially  the  same  in 
office  as  the  Hebrew  Judges.  The  Arab  Sheikhs  cor- 
respond very  nearly  to  them,  except  that  they  have  not 
the  supernatural  commission  of  the  Israelite  magistrates. 
The  term  Sheikh  means  an  old  man,  hence  a  chief,  a 
lord,  a  man  of  eminence.  The  Hebrew  Zakayn  signi- 
fies an  old  man,  and  also  elders  of  Israel,  chief  men, 
magistrates,  without  reference  to  their  age.  The  modern 
words  Signore,  Se/wr,  Seigneur,  derived  from  the  Latin 
senior,  are  used  in  the  same  way.*  The  Elders  of 
Israel  were  also  their  Sheikhs.  The  history  and  use  of 
the  modern  Arabic  name  JRais,  JRas,  for  the  master  of  a 
ship,  illustrates  the  use  of  the  appellation  of  elders  and 
rulers.  It  is  evidently  from  the  Hebrew  Rosh,  head  or 
chief,  just  as  our  Captain  is  from  Caput,  the  head.  And 
in  the  same  way^  we  find  the  Greek  Presbuteros,  Pres- 
byter, meaning  an  aged  person  and  then  one  that  held 
an  office  in  the  Synagogue  and  now  holds  one  in  the 
Christian  church. 

The  Judges  of  Israel  were,  however,  neither  heredi- 
tary, nor  were  they  chosen  by  the  people.  They  were 
in  every  case  raised  up  on  some  extraordinary  occasion 
to  execute  some  divine  judgment  upon  Israel's  wicked 
oppressors,  or  to  fulfill  some  specific  mission.  They  kept 
no  court,  had  no  standing  army,  and  received  no  pay. 
They  had  neither  the  pomp,  nor  the  ceremony  usually 

*See  Gesenius  on  Heh  Zakayn, 


38  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

attached  to  the  head  of  a  State.  Nor  had  they  the  power 
to  make  any  new  laws,  nor  to  change  the  old  ones. 
Their  mission  was  altogether  a  peculiar,  a  distinct- 
ive one.  In  the  history  of  civil  rulers  they  stand  out 
in  solitary  prominence  as  Melchisedec  does  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  priesthood.  Their  only  authority  was  to 
execute  the  laws,  and  effect  such  deliverance  of  the 
chosen  people  from  their  heathen  pppressors  as  God 
himself  should  direct.  Officially,  they  were  without 
father  or  mother  and  without  offspring.  They  had  no 
predecessors,  and  they  left  no  successors. 

The  government  of  the  Judges  continued  about  four 
hundred  and  fifty  years.     And  if  Samuel  be  considered 
as  a  prophet  as  well  as  a  judge,  and  Eli  a  priest  as  well 
as  a  judge,  we  may  consider  Samson  not  only  as  the 
giant  judge  of  Israel,  but  as  the  last  of  that  peculiar 
order  of  governors.     Samuel,  it  is  true,  judged  Israel, 
but  he  did  not  begin  to  act  as  a  judge  till  forty  years  of 
age,  and  during  the  greater  part  of  that  time,  Saul  was 
king.     It  is,  therefore,  with  much  propriety,  that  the 
"  first  book  of  Samuel  is  otherwise  called  the  first  book 
of  Kings."     The  history  of  Samson  occupies  four  out  of 
the  twenty  chapters  of  the  book  of  Judges,  and  is  more 
fully  written  out  than  that  of  any  of  the  others.     His 
history  is  surprising  even  in  an  extraordinary  age.     In 
several  particulars  he  was  the  most  distinguished  of  the 
Hebrew  Judges.     And  though  never  at  the  head  of  an 
army,  nor  on  a  throne,  nor  prime  minister  to  any  earthly 
potentate,  it  were  difficult,  perhaps  impossible,  to  name 
another  Hebrew  that  loved  his  country  with  more  fervid 
devotion,  or  served  it  with  a  more  hearty  good  will,  or 
who  was  a  greater  terror  to  its  enemies.     His  deeds  and 


A    GRAND    EPIC.  39 

his  errors  were  Samsonian.     I  know  not  that  there  is 
any  biography  so    completely    characteristic,    or   more 
tragical    than  his.     It  is  full  of  stirring  incidents  and 
most  marvellous  achievements.     His  whole  life  consists 
of  a  good  beginning  preannounced,  and  a  relapse  from 
early  piety  into  a  long,  dark  and  terrible    conflict,  in 
which  we  find  a  mother's  piety  and  a  father's  faith  in 
battle  array  with  constitutional  and  besetting  sins ;  but 
at  last  they  prevail,  and  the  sun  that  shone  on  him  in  his 
youth  shines  on  him  in  his  old  age  and  gilds  his  dying 
exploits  with  terrible  glory.     He  seems  to  us  like  a  vol- 
cano, continually  struggling  for  an  eruption.     In  him  we 
have  all  the  elements  of  an  epic ;  love,  adventure,  hero- 
ism, tragedy.     Nor  am  I  aware  that  any  Bible  character 
has  lent  to  modern  literature  a  greater  amount  of  meta- 
phor and  comparison  than  the  story  of  Samson.     The 
"  Samson  Agonistes  "  of  Milton  has  been  pronounced  by 
the  highest  authority  to  be  "  one  of  the  noblest  dramas 
in  the  English  language."     It  reminds  us  of  the  mystic 
touches   and   shadowy   grandeur  of  Rembrandt,   while 
Rembrandt    himself  and    Rubens,    Guido,   David    and 
Martin  are  indebted  to  the  Hercules  of  the  Judges  for 
several  of  their  immortal  pieces. 

I  am  aware  that  some  look  upon  Samson  merely  as  a 
strong  man,  just  as  they  do  upon  Solomon  as  a  wise  man  ; 
but  find  nothing  supernatural  in  either.  They  forget 
that  it  was  the  special  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  that 
taught  Solomon  wisdom  above  all  other  men.  They  do 
not  consider  that  the  moving  of  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah 
gave  extraordinary  strength  to  Samson  for  special  pur- 
poses. It  does  not  appear  that  his  stature  or  limbs  were 
of  gigantic  proportions.  His  strength,  on  the  contrary, 


40  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

was  "  hung  in  his  hair,"  the  weakest  part  of  his  physical 
frame,  to  show  that  it  was  the  special  gift  of  God.  It 
is,  therefore,  wholly  in  regard  to  his  strength,  I  have 
called  him  the  Giant  Judge  of  Israel.  His  peculiari- 
ties are  not  remarkable,  because  of  any  thing  that  we 
perceive  foreign  to  fallen  humanity  in  the  kind  or  com- 
position of  his  passions  and  besetting  sins,  but  in  the 
fierceness  and  greatness  of  their  strength.  Saul,  the  son 
of  Kish,  was  of  the  people  and  among  them — he  was  of 
their  flesh  and  bones  ; — but  he  was  a  head  and  shoulders 
above  them.  It  is  just  so  with  Samson.  Ordinary  men 
now  have  the  same  besetting  sins — passions  of  the  same 
character,  but  they  are  diminutive  in  comparison  with 
him,  and  are  without  his  supernatural  strength. 

It  must  be  confessed  in  the  outset,  that  Samson's 
spiritual  history  is  very  skeleton  like.  We  have  only  a 
few  time  worn  fragments  out  of  which  to  construct  his 
inner  man.  Now  and  then,  and  sometimes  after  long 
and  dreary  intervals,  and  from  out  of  heavy  clouds  and 
thick  darkness,  we  catch  a  few  rays  of  hope,  and  rejoice 
in  some  signs  of  a  reviving  conscience  and  of  the  presence 
of  God's  Spirit.  Possibly  no  part  of  the  Bible  has  given 
occasion  for  more  raillery  than  the  book  of  Judges. 
And  perhaps  no  name  in  that  book  has  given  point  to 
more  infidel  jests  than  that  of  Samson.  "  His  character 
is  indeed  dark  and  almost  inexplicable.  By  none  of  the 
Judges  of  Israel  did  God  work  so  many  miracles,  and 
yet  by  none  were  so  many  faults  committed."  As  no 
Bible  hero  is  so  remarkable  for  strength,  so  none  are  so 
remarkable  for  weakness  as  Samson.  His  faults  and 
passions  were  like  hirnelf.  The  Apostle,  however,  in 
Hebrews  xi,  settles  the  question  as  to  his  personal  piety 


DR.    BRUCE'S    ANALYSIS.  41 

and  salvation  at  last,  by  enrolling  him  in  the  list  of 
heroes  distinguished  for  faith  and  glorious  deeds.  But 
as  an  old  writer  has  said,  he  must  be  looked  upon  as 
"  rather  a  rough  believer."  A  recent  Scotch  author 
(Rev.  Dr.  Bruce  in  his  biography  of  Samson,  a  work  very 
highly  spoken  of  in  his  country)  divides  his  life  into 
three  periods.  The  first,  his  youth,  when  all  was  pros- 
perous and  he  was  truly  pious.  This  period  extends  to 
his  marriage,  when  his  second  period  begins,  which  is 
marked  by  his  fall,  and  is  very  dark.  In  which  period, 
like  David,  he  made  sad  shipwreck  of  the  faith — "  and 
strangely  enough  from  the  very  same  blinding  and 
beguiling,  and  peculiarly  brutalizing  lust ;  and  yet 
like  David  also  and  some  others,  he  escaped  at  the  last 
as  by  a  hair's  breadth — the  Lord  forgiving  his  iniquity, 
whilst  yet  He  took  vengeance  on  his  inventions."  The 
third  period,  he  denominates  the  period  of  his  penitence, 
recovery  and  triumphant  death.  This  period,  the  revival 
of  his  graces  and  gifts  as  a  Christian,  begins  with  the 
growing  of  his  hair  in  the  prison.  This  author  dwells 
chiefly  upon  Samson's  history  as  an  illustration  of  Chris- 
tian experience.  He  endeavours  to  illustrate  the  con- 
tinual struggle  between  good  and  evil  in  the  human  soul, 
sometimes  the  one  predominating,  and  then  again  the 
other,  the  evil  drawing  down  its  own  punishment,  and 
the  good  at  last  prevailing.  He  makes  Samson  a.  strik- 
ing instance  of  "  the  delivery  of  the  body  to  satan  for 
the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  the  spirit  might  be  saved 
in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  Now  it  is  undoubtedly 
true,  that  the  strugglings  of  "this  mighty  and  marvel- 
lous Israelite,"  with  his  wild  passions  and  his  better 
resolutions — his  conflicts  with  most  hurtful  lusts  and 


42  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

convictions  of  duty,  do  well  illustrate  the  Apostle's  war- 
fare between  the  flesh  and  the  spirit ;  but,  it  may  be 
fairly  questioned  whether  this  is  the  main  design  of  his 
history,  as  it  is  given  to  us.  According  to  Dr.  Bruce, 
Samson  was  not  so  much  a  type  of  Christ  as  of  the 
conscience  of  a  believer  quickened  by  his  spirit,  and 
contending  for  the  mastery  over  those  carnal  passions 
which  are  well  represented  by  the  tyrant  and  treacher- 
ous Philistines.  I  like  not  to  dwell  on  Samson  as  a 
type  of  Christ.  We  must  at  least  guard  against  remov- 
ing him  so  far  from  us  by  reason  of  his  uniqueness  of 
character,  as  to  forget  that  he  was  a  man  of  like  passions 
with  ourselves.  We  must  carefully  discriminate  in  his 
life  between  what  God  moved  him  to  do,  and  what  his 
sinful  passions  moved  him  to.  I  fear  a  disposition  to 
neglect  the  Old  Testament  characterizes  our  times. 
True  indeed,  most  people  in  Christendom  suppose  them- 
selves well  acquainted  with  the  character  of  Samson. 
They  at  least  know  he  is  called  the  strongest  man,  and 
that  he  killed  a  lion,  slept  in  Delilah's  lap,  and  killed  a 
great  many  Philistines  at  his  death.  This  they  may 
know,  and  yet  not  be  able  to  form  a  true  estimate  of  his 
character,  or  draw  from  his  history  those  important 
lessons,  which  it  teaches.  Doubtless  many  have  read 
Samson's  history  just  as  they  do  that  of  "  the  Scottish 
Chiefs,"  or  of  King  Philip.  They  have  found  in  Sam- 
son the  wonderful  deeds  of  a  giant  Ishmaelite,  ever 
ready  for  a  border  fray,  fiery  and  fierce,  and  of  extra- 
ordinary strength,  and  nothing  more.  This  were  to  lose 
very  much  of  what  the  Holy  Spirit  certainly  designed 
us  to  learn  from  this  memoir.  The  Lord  raised  up  this 
heroic  Israelite  for  us.  He  threw  into  him  a  miraculous 


SAMSON    THE    ORIGINAL    HERCULES.  43 

composition  of  strength  and  energy  of  passion  and  called 
them  forth  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  him  our  teacher. 
And  besides  being  a  hero,  he  was  a  believer — a  Chris- 
tian, a  member  of  the  Body  of  Christ,  his  church,  which 
is  his  kingdom.  God  raised  him  up  for  our  learning, 
and  made  him,  as  it  were,  "a  mirror  or  molten  looking 
glass,"  in  which  we  may  see  some  of  our  own  leading 
features,  truthfully  portrayed,  only  on  an  enlarged  scale. 
And  if  we  differ  from  him,  or  from  other  great  sinners, 
who  but  God  hath  made  us  to  differ  ?  In  all,  if  in  any 
thing  we  are  not  as  bad  as  others,  it  is  not  owing  to 
ourselves,  but  to  the  sovereign  grace  of  God. 

First.  Our  studies  of  the  biography  of  Israel's  Giant 
Judge,  lead  us  to  the  conclusion  that  he  is  the  original 
of  the  heathen  Hercules.  Many  authors  have  written 
on  heathen  mythology,  and  dwelt  on  the  exploits  of 
a  demi-god,  known  by  the  name  of  Hercules.  Every 
ancient  nation  seems  to  have  thought  it  necessary  to 
give  themselves  a  remote  origin,  and  to  people  the  dim 
shadows  of  a  fabulous  antiquity  with  heroes  and  demi- 
gods as  their  progenitors.  Every  ancient  nation  had  its 
own  Hercules.  Some  authors  speak  of  forty  and  some 
of  sixty  heroes  or  demi-gods  of  this  name.  In  some 
writers  of  distinction,  both  ancient  and  modern,  we  find 
a  labored  comparison  of  the  Greek  Hercules,  with  the 
Hebrew  Samson,  and  not  always  to  the  advantage  of  the 
latter.  In  some  particulars,  as  in  "  the  choice  of  Her- 
cules," as  it  is  called,  in  which,  he  is  represented  to  have 
preferred  virtue  to  pleasure,  the  heathen  demi-god  is 
morally  superior  to  the  Hebrew.  The  difficulty  of 
making  such  a  comparison,  lies  chiefly  in  this,  that  in 
the  one  we  have  historic  verities  only  as  materials  out  of 


44  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

which  to  construct  our  hero,  while  in  the  other,  wre  have 
all  the  fruits  of  a  warm,  eclectic  fancy,  fabling  out  of  all 
possibilities  "  the  higher  potentialities  "  of  a  demi-godship. 
The  Tyrian  or  Phenician  Hercules  is,  however,  gener- 
ally admitted  to  be  the  oldest,  and  for  the  construction 
of  this  demi-god  in  Asia  Minor,  there  is  but  little  doubt 
the  heathen  used  their  traditions  of  the  Hebrew  Moses, 
Joshua  and  Samson.  In  those  early  days  there  was 
much  more  intercourse, — traveling  and  trading  among 
the  tribes  of  Asia  and  Africa,  than  is  generally  supposed. 
Saint  Augustine  expressly  affirms,  that  the  heathen 
nations  forged  their  respective  Hercules  after  the  history 
of  Samson  became  known,  first  in  Egypt,  then  in  Phe- 
nicia,  and  lastly  in  Greece.  There  is  no  proof  of  any 
fabulous  Hercules  before  the  time  of  Samson.  The 
points  of  parallel  between  the  Hebrew  Judge  and  the 
heathen  Hercules  may  be  summed  up  after  the  follow- 
ing order : 

1.  The  name  Samson  signifies  the  sun.     And  accord- 
ing to    Macrobius  this    is    the    meaning  of  the  name 
Hercules.     This  is  denied  by  some. 

2.  The  birth  and  actions  of  both,  or  of  all,  are  super- 
natural. 

3.  Samson  begins  his  career  by  rending  a  lion  as  if 
he  were  a  kid,  and  Hercules  slew  the  terrible  lion  of  the 
Nemean  forest,  and  strangled  enormous  serpents,  and 
performed  many  other  most  wonderful  exploits. 

4.  The  heathen  Hercules  is  also  compared  to  Joshua 
in  casting  down  stones  from  heaven,  and  in  some  other 
points. 

5.  The  jaw-bone  of  Samson  becomes  a  club  in  the 
hands  of  Hercules. 


HERCULES  AND  SAMSON'S  DEATH.        45 

6.  The  fable  imitates  fully  the  original  as  to  the  foun- 
tain of  water  in  Lehi.     When  Hercules  had  slain  the 
dragon  that  guarded  the  apples  in  the  garden  of  the 
Hesperides  he  well  nigh  perished  of  thirst  in  the  deserts 
of  Libya,  and  to  save  him,  we  are  told,  the  gods  made 
a  spring  of  water  gush  forth  from  a  rock,  which  he 
struck  with  his  foot. 

7.  The  prevailing  weakness  of  Hercules  was  precisely 
the  besetting  sin  of  our  Israelitish  judge.     Both  in  the 
original  and  in  the  fable,  an  inordinate  love  for  women 
leads  both  heroes  into  unexampled  troubles  and  exploits, 
and  finally  to  ruin.     It  will  hardly  be  doubted  but  that 
Samson  and  Delilah  are  the  original  of  the  story  of 
Nisus,  king  of  Megara  and  his  daughter  Scylla,  who  cut 
off  the  fatal  purple  lock  upon  which  victory  depended, 
and  gave  it  to  Minos  his  enemy,  then  at  war  with  him, 
who  by  that  means  destroyed  both  him  and  his  kingdom.* 

8.  And   both    died  in   a  similar    and  extraordinary 
manner.     The  story  of  Hercules'  death,  as  given  by 
Herodotus,  is  to  the  following  effect,  namely :  having 
fallen   into  the  hands   of  the  Egyptians,  he  was   con- 
demned to  die  by  being  sacrificed  to  Jupiter.     Accord- 
ingly he  was  adorned  as  a  victim,  and  led  with  much 
pomp  to  the  foot  of  the  altar,  where,  after  permitting 
himself  to  be  conducted  thus  far,  and  stopping  a  moment 
to  gather  his  strength,  he  fell  upon  and  massacred  all 
those  who  were   assembled  to  be,  either  actors  in,  or 
spectators  of  this  pompous  sacrifice,  to  the  number  of 
many  thousands. 

In  the  history  of  the  Hercules  of  Herodotus  there  is 

*Ovid,  Met.,  lib.  viii,  fab.  1. 


46  JHE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

considerable  confusion,  if  not  some  positive  contradic- 
tions ;  yet  it  seems  to  me,  no  one  upon  a  candid  and  full 
comparison  of  the  heathen  Hercules  with  the  HEBREW 
SAMSON,  and  remembering  at  the  same  time,  the  ac- 
knowledged source  of  the  Greek  stories,  Avill  fail  to 
admit  that  the  Hebrew  is  the  original.  This  analogy  is 
abridged  from  the  books,  and  is  a  remarkable  instance 
of  how  much  the  heathen  have  borrowed  from  the  Bible, 
and  of  how  they  have  corrupted  and  disfigured  the  orig- 
inal. The  Greek  history  of  Hercules  exactly  resembles 
all  their  other  histories  of  their  gods  and  heroes,  which 
are  a  vast  mass  of  fables,  often  incoherent,  but  accumu- 
lated on  a  skeleton  or  frame-work  of  truth.  It  is  easy 
to  see  that  they  have  united  the  Hebrew  traditions  of 
Joshua  and  Samson  into  one  story,  and  added  such 
inventions  as  suited  their  national  vanity  and  mytho- 
logical ideas.  Perhaps  as  good  an  embodiment  of  as 
much  of  heathen  traditions  on  this  point  as  is  generally 
necessary,  is  more  accessible  in  Dr.  Clark's  Commentary 
of  Judges  xvi,  than  any  where  else.  Dr.  Clark  is  not  a 
safe  expositor,  but  his  learning  and  memory  were  pro- 
digious, and  many  of  his  pious,  practical  remarks,  are 
excellent.  Those  who  may  wish  to  examine  this  curious 
subject  for  themselves  should  consult  at  least  in  addition 
to  the  ordinary  works  on  Mythology,  Faber  on  origin  of 
Idolatry  ;  Prideaux's  Connections  ;  Augustine's  City  of 
God;  Jaquelot  on  the  existence  of  God  ;  Ovid's  Meta- 
morphoses, book  eighth,  and  book  fourth  Fasti ;  Josephus' 
Antiquities ;  Herodotus'  Euterpe ;  Varro  and  Cicero  on 
the  nature  of  the  Gods  ;  Selden  de  Diis  Syris,  and 
Lavaur's  Conference  de  la  Fable  avec  1'Historie  Sainte. 
Second.  Let  it  be  remembered  in  studying  such  a 


SAMS  OX    A    SINNER    SAVED.  47 

biography  as  this  of  the  Giant  Judge  of  Israel,  that  we 
should  expect,  and  could  not  indeed  have  any  other  than 
one  that  records  infirmities  and  short  comings,  as  well  as 
virtues  and  heroic  deeds.  Samson  was  a  man — a  sinful 
man.  His  life  and  exploits  are  recorded  in  an  honest, 
truth-telling  memoir.  This  point  comes  up  again  in  the 
next  chapter  in  considering  the  design  and  method  upon 
which  the  earlier  Biblical  memoirs  were  written. 

Third.  It  is  not  to  be  inferred  then  by  any  means, 
that  in  making  mention  of  Samson,  the  Apostle  approved 
of  all  that  he  did.  Nor  indeed  of  any  of  the  other  cham- 
pions of  faith  whom  he  names.  All  that  he  commends 
is  his  faith.  All  that  he  here  speaks  of  is  the  faith  of 
the  ancients.  It  was  not  his  purpose  to  give  a  full 
account  of  these  worthies.  He  was  not  writing  their 
history.  He  was  not  called  upon  in  this  connection  to 
speak  of  their  imperfections ;  but  to  show  that  however 
great  their  faults  may  have  been,  they  were  remark- 
able for  their  confidence  in  God.  By  reciting  this 
muster  roll  of  the  old  champions  of  faith,  the  Apostle 
sought  to  awaken  the  courage  of  the  Hebrew  believers 
of  his  day  by  bidding  them  remember  what  faith  had 
achieved  for  men  and  women  like  them  in  ages  past. 

Fourth.  All  these,  the  apostle  says,  obtained  a  good 
report  through  faith.  That  is,  on  account  of  their  confi- 
dence in  God.  They  were  accepted  of  Him,  and  are 
commended  by  all  the  pious.  The  procuring  cause  of 
pardon  and  acceptance  from  the  beginning,  was  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb,  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 
This  they  received  by  faith — not  the  reality,  but  the 
promise.  They  believed  the  promise  as  if  it  were  ful- 
filled. They  did  not  actually  see  its  fulfillment,  but 


48  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

they  did  look  forward  in  perfect  confidence  to  its  fulfill- 
ment, and  consequently  received  the  blessings  promised 
as  if  the  great  promise  had  actually  been  fulfilled. 


Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 

We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 
And  departing,  leave  behind  us 

Footprints  on  the  sand  of  time. 

Footprints  that  perhaps  another, 

Sailing  o'er  life's  solemn  main, 
A  forlorn  and  shipwrecked  brother, 

Seeing,  shall  take  heart  again. 

Let  us,  then,  be  up  and  doing, 

With  a  heart  for  any  fate ; 
Still  achieving,  still  pursuing, 

Learn  to  labor  and  to  wait. 

Lonqfellow's  Psalm  of  Life. 


®j)t 


it 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  STORY  A  REVELATION  INSPIRED. 

"  This  book, — this  glorious  book,  on  every  line 
Marked  with  the  seal  of  high  Divinity ; 
On  every  leaf  bedewed  with  drops  of  love 
Divine.1" 

Holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.— 2  Pet.  i : 

All  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrin  , 
for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness ;  that  the  man  of 
God— a  Christian  man— may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good 
works.—  2  Tim  iii :  16, 17. 

IT  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  consider  the 
evidences  of  Christianity  in  general,  nor  to  offer  proofs 
of  the  inspiration  of  God  in  the  Bible.  Our  undertak- 
ing is  a  more  limited  one.  In  the  previous  chapters, 
we  have  a  wonderful  story  of  heroic  times.  And  though 
it  is  remarkable  even  in  a  collection  of  marvellous  rec- 
ords, still  it  belongs  to  a  series  of  biographies  that  we 
are  accustomed  to  look  upon  with  great  reverence.  In 
so  far  then  as  we  may  be  able  to  explain  in  what  sense 
the  recorded  story  of  the  life  and  exploits  of  Israel's 
GIANT  JUDGE  is  a  revelation  from  God,  made  in  a 
supernatural  way,  and  transferred  to  human  language 
by  an  extraordinary  or  miraculous  degree  of  inspiration, 


52  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

we  shall  not  only  justify  the  reverence  with  which  we 
are  wont  to  treat  this  sacred  story,  but  establish  the 
claims  of  all  the  Bible  biographies  to  a  like  respect. 
The  story  then,  in  hand,  of  "the  Hebrew  Judge  Hercules, 
is  it  an  inspired  record,  and  on  what  plan,  and  for  what 
purpose  were- such  Biblical  memoirs  written?  It  is 
proper  to  consider  these  questions,  since  there  are  those 
who  still  assert  that  the  Old  Testament  is  either  totally 
unconnected  with  the  New,  except  by  a  mere  chance,  or 
that  it  has  ceased  to  be  of  any  importance.  This  asser- 
tion argues  either  ignorance,  or  a  false  conception  of 
spiritual  Christianity,  or  an  inordinate  zeal  to  support 
certain  dogmatic  views  of  religion.  Still  it  is  thrust 
upon  us  so  often  and  with  so  much  urgency,  that  it  is 
well  for  us  to  consider  THE  PLACE  OF  BIBLE  BIOGRA- 
PHIES, ESPECIALLY  OF  THE  EARLIER  TIMES,  IN  THE 
HISTORY  OF  MANKIND. 

Why  should  we  then  as  Christians  study  the  Old  Tes- 
tament ? 

I.  In  answering  this  question,  it  were  perhaps  enough 
to  say,  that  the  doctrines  and  precepts,  principles  and 
duties  which  are  taught  in  and  illustrated  by  the  lives  of 
Bible  characters,  are  found  to  be  the  best  manual  in 
existence  for  developing  and  strengthening,  refining, 
elevating  and  giving  ex  pan -ion  k>  our  mental  faculties. 
There  is  nothing  equal  to  the  theology  of  the  Bible  to 
strengthen  and  pnriiV  (lie  human  mind.  The  divinity 
of  the  Scottish  Knox  has  given  breadth  and  power  to  the 
Scottish  mind.  He  gave  Scotland  her  schools  and  an 
open  Bible,  and  Scotland  has  well  improved  his  gilts. 
It  is  "  from  scenes  like  these,"  so  touchingly  described  in 
the  Cotter's  Saturday  Night, — "  Old  Scotia's  grandeur 


THE  PABULUM  OF  SCOTLAND.          53 

springs,  that  makes  her  loved  at  home,  revered  abroad." 
And  the  Cotter's  Saturday  Night  reminds  us  that  the 
late  Mr.  Hugh  Miller,  in  one  of  his  essays,  which  are 
his  ablest  productions,  quotes  with  approbation,  the 
remark  of  Gilbert  Burns,  brother  of  the  poet,  that  "  it 
was  not  from  the  parish  school  that  the  people  of  Scot- 
land derived  their  higher  education,  but  from  the  parish 
pulpits.  It  was  to  their  ministers,  not  to  their  school- 
masters, that  the  Scotch  owed  both  their  sober  and  their 
severe  thinking."  "  Never,"  continues  Mr.  Miller,  "  was 
the  strong  common  sense  of  Gilbert  Burns,  which  was 
as  much  a  gift  of  nature  as  the  genius  of  his  brother,  more 
unequivocally  manifested  than  in  his  remark  on  the  real 
source  whence  the  Scotch  people  had  derived  of  old  the 
tone  of  high  moral  sentiment  by  which  they  were  char- 
acterized, and  their  severe  semi-metaphysical  cast  of 
thinking.  An  earnest  Calvinistic  ministry  had  been 
their  real  teachers.  We  well  remember  a  class  of  intel- 
ligent and  thoughtful  men,  now  nearly  all  passed  away, 
who  had  received  their  only  teaching  from  the  church 
and  from  the  Bible  ;  nor  can  we  avoid  regretting,  when 
we  think  how  much  they  formed  the  salt  of  the  Scottish 
people,  that  the  class  should  be  so  well  nigh  an  extinct 
one.  The  pabulum  on  Avhich  they  fed  and  grew  strong 
still  survives,  however ;  and  when  we  hear  from  the  pul- 
pit, powerful  and  original  thinking  that  awakens  thought 
in  others,  while  at  the  same  time  it  ensures  the  diffusion 
of  an  element  of  earnestness,  we  recognise  in  it  the  old 
teaching,  which  made  the  people  of  Scotland  what  they 
were  when  at  their  best."  Yes,  "  the  pabulum  "  still  sur- 
vives and  if  we  mistake  not,  the  class  so  much  admired  by 
the  geologist  is  by  no  means  "  an  extinct  one."  There  are 


54  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

those,  and  not  a  few,  in  his  country  and  in  our  own,  who 
still  adhere  to  "  the  old  way  of  teaching " — who  read 
and  expound  the  word  of  God,  and  cause  the  people  to 
understand  its  meaning. 

It  is  no  doubt  true  that  the  influence  the  pulpit  once 
had  almost  entirely  to  itself,  is  now  shared  with  the  Sab- 
bath school,  the  colporteur  and  the  printing  press  ;  still 
the  "  power  of  the  pulpit "  in  preventing  crime,  and  in 
promoting  virtue  and  religion,  is  very  great.  Like  the 
life-giving  principle  of  the  air,  it  is  everywhere,  and  yet 
scarcely  recognized.  Doubtless  there  is  much  ineffici- 
ency in  the  pulpit,  but  is  there  none  in  the  pews  ?  But 
few  ministers  of  the  gospel  are  as  able  and  successful  as 
they  should  be,  but  are  the  hearers  of  the  word  efficient 
doers  ?  The  main  business  of  the  pulpit  is  to  bring  the 
Divine  Word  home  to  the  conscience — into  living  con- 
tact with  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  hearers.  And  if  we 
are  not  greatly  mistaken,  the  best  way  to  do  this,  is  "  the 
old  way  of  teaching,"  that  is,  of  teaching  the  people  as 
the  prophets  and  apostles  and  our  blessed  Lord  himself 
taught  them.  Doctrines,  precepts,  promises,  threaten- 
ings,  commands  and  duties  are  taught  in  the  scriptures 
by  biographies,  or  memoirs  and  parables.  The  chequered 
life  of  man  is  made  to  teach  and  illustrate  what  we  are 
to  believe  and  what  we  are  to  do,  that  we  may  inherit 
eternal  life.  The  biographies  of  the  Bible  are  living 
lessons.  They  are  not  perfect  as  pictures,  but  true  to 
the  life,  giving  the  blemishes  as  well  as  the  beauties. 
The  Judges  of  Israel,  and  all  the  heroes  that  lived  before 
and  since  Agamemnon  are  nothing  to  us,  unless  we 
recognise  them  to  be  men  of  like  passions  with  ourselves 
— "  our  loftier  brothers,  but  one  in  blood."  To  read  or 


OUR    LOFTIER    BROTHERS.  55 

preach  of  the  thousands  who  have  lived  before  us,  "  in 
the  grey  dawn  of  time,"  as  if  we  were  reciting  some 
unmeaning  hearsay  story,  is  to  fail  altogether  of  a  proper 
appreciation  of  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  in  causing  the 
biographies  of  the  Bible  to  be  written.  The  Hebrew 
historians  by  one  single  touch,  one  little  incident,  chroni- 
cle the  state  of  a  man's  mind  or  a  period  of  his  life,  and 
expose  at  one  view  the  naked  anatomy  of  the  human 
heart.  There  are  no  such  biographical  memoirs  any- 
where else  as  we  have  in  the  Bible.  As  studies  of  the 
natural  history  of  man's  inner  life,  they  challenge  our 
highest  attention.  It  is  for  us  to  draw  warning  and 
encouragement  from  the  lives  of  holy  men  of  old,  who 
did  battle  for  the  right,  both  against  themselves  and  the 
world,  and  who  sometimes  fell,  and  then,  after  many  a 
struggle,  rose  again  to  the  conflict,  and  after  a  life-long 
quarrel  with  sin  and  the  enemies  of  God,  gloriously 
triumphed.  If  we  read  their  lives  aright,  as  we  work 
at  the  "  flaming  forge  of  life,"  we  shall 

"  Know  how  sublime  a  thing  it  is 
To  suffer  and  be  strong." 

A  studied  depreciation  of  the  scriptures  of  the  Old 
Testament  has  ever  marked  the  course  of  rationalism 
in  the  old  world,  and  is  one  of  the  most  unfavorable 
symptoms  of  the  theological  movements  of  our  own 
country,  especially  of  New  England,  under  the  lead»of 
such  men  as  Parker  and  Emerson.  It  is  not  enough  to 

c^ 

take  out  of  them  all  true  evangelism.  The  inspiration  of 
the  prophets  is  made  nothing  more  than  the  inspiration 
of  genius,  such  as  is  common  to  an  artist,  a  poet  or  an 
orator.  On  the  contrary,  we  hold  that  the  scriptures  are 


,56  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

of  God  in  the  highest  sense  of  inspiration,  and  that  they 
testify  of  Christ  and  of  eternal  life  through  Him.  Some 
heretics  in  ancient  times  held  that  the  Old  Testament 
was  the  work  of  a  secondary  evil  principle  or  deity,  that 
was  in  perpetual  warfare  with  the  eternal  fountain  of 
good.*  According  to  this  view  the  Jewish  system  was 
to  be  regarded  as  essentially  defective  and  positively 
evil — carnal  and  debasing.  Consequently  Christ  came 
not  to  fulfill,  but  to  destroy — and  that  in  fact,  the  New 
Testament  is  something  wholly  new,  different  from  and 
in  contradiction  to  the  Old  Testament.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  of  the  first  converts  from  Judaism  to  Christi- 
anity, insisted  on  the  continued  obligations  of  the  law  of 
Moses,  not  only  on  converted  Jews,  but  also  on  con- 
verted Gentiles.  They  insisted  on  circumcision  as  well 
as  baptism — on  obedience  to  Moses  as  well  as  to  Christ 
in  order  to  salvation.  This  error  the  great  apostle  who 
wrote  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  has  most  happily  cor- 
rected, and  so  corrected  as  to  show  us  the  use  of  and 
the  difference  between  the  two  dispensations. 


*  Marcion  and  his  followers  rejected  the  Old  Testament  altogether.  Schleier- 
macher  and  his  school  deny  its  inspiration.  Sonic  of  them  even  go  so  far  as  to 
say  that  "  an  owl  is  as  much  inspired  as  Isaiah  was."  They  all  contend  that 
there  is  no  higher  inspiration  than  "Christian  consciousness."  It  is  obvious 
whither  all  this  tends.  The  result  is  the  same,  whether  we  rely  on  man's 
"  imier  light,"  "religious  sentiment,"  "n  (Lions  intentions,"  "spiritual  in- 
sight," or  "christian  consciousness."  If  these  or  any  of  them  be  supreme, 
then  the  writings  of  the  prophets  and  apostles  are  no  more  inspired  than  are 
the  recorded  views  and  feelings  of  llunyan  and  1'uyson,  or  of  Christians  gener- 
ally. And  if  so,  we  are  without  any  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  manners.  What 
we  have  regarded  as  a  revelation  supematurally  made  is  nothing  better  than  the 
light  of  nature.  Indeed,  natural  and  revealed  religion  become  to  us  one  and 
the  same.  The  English  and  the  French  deists  of  the  last  century  were  but  lit- 
tle, if  at  all,  further  from  the  truth,  than  Newman  and  1'arker,  and  the  N 
gists  of  German}'  in  general. 


TOO    MUCH    ALLEGORIZING.  57 

SPENCER*  and  his  followers  rob  the  Old  Testament  of 
its  Christianity,  and  not  a  few  evangelical  authors  on  the 
other  side  have  betrayed  an  inclination  to  over  estimate 

it 

the  perfection  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation.  Some  have 
found  no  types  of  Christ,  no  resurrection,  no  immortality 
in  the  Old  Testament ;  others  spiritualize  almost  every- 
thing in  it. 

Both  extremes  are  to  be  avoided.  Ever  since  the 
days  of  ORIGEN,  the  cause  of  truth  has  been  more  or  less 
embarrassed  by  allegorical  interpretations  of  scripture. 
The  fault,  in  our  judgment,  of  many  evangelical  writers 
is  that  they  find  types,  where,  oftentimes,  we  should  be 
taught  only  by  suggestion,  or  by  way  of  accommodation. 
A  too  liberal  or  a  too  literal  rule  of  interpretation  may 
be  alike  erroneous.  If  the  Protestant  enhances  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  law  and  the  gospel,  the  Romanist 
underrates  it.  And  both  have  a  theory  to  support,  or 
dogmatical  prepossessions  to  defend.  The  true  view  is, 
that  the  law  is  a  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to  Christ,  who 
fulfilled  the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  by  one  offering  of 
himself  he  hath  perfected  forever  them  that  are  sancti- 
fied. See  Heb.  x:  12-14. 

There  are  types  as  well  as  prophecies,  in  the  Old 
Testament.  But  every  incident  or  word  of  it  is  not  so  to 
be  interpreted.  The  Mosaic  economy  was  typical  and 
preparatory  to  the  gospel.  But  the  minutiae,  of  the  tem- 
ple, the  nails  and  badger's  skins  of  the  tabernacle,  and 


'Soe  Spencer's  works  De  Leg.  Heb.  pasism.  In  answer  to  him  see  Witsius  on 
the  Covenants,  lib.  iv,  c.  11,  12.  Also  Calvin's  Institute,  lib.  ii,  c.  10.  While 
it  is  certainly  a  great  error  to  rob  the  Old  Testament  of  its  Christianity,  it  is  au 
error  oi'not  less  magnitude  to  despoil  the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the  >«'ew  Tes- 
tament by  unduly  pressing  analogies  and  types  out  of  the  Old  upon  the  New. 

C* 


58  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

many  such  tilings,  were  not  types.  A  brave  man  is 
compared  to  a  lion,  but  it  were  ridiculous  to  press  the 
analogy,  and  figure  out  his  resemblance  to  a  lion  and 
find  the  counterpart  of  the  lion's  mane  and  claws.  An 
indifference  to  revealed  truth,  if  not  to  spiritual  religion, 
lies  at  the  bottom  of  this  depreciation  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. For  no  book  of  the  Bible  is  a  mere  dry  statement 
of  the  past,  They  are  all  instinct  with  life.  Even  the 
list  of  hard  names  are  of  importance.  Genealogical 
tables  are  of  use  in  tracing  out  the  promises  and  veri- 
fying their  fulfillment.  Our  only  sure  guide  is  the  written 
word  of  God.  We  are  to  listen  to  what  God  has  said 
— what  doctrines  and  duties  he  has  taught  in  the  lives 
of  holy  men  and  women  in  olden  times,  not  as  recorded 
by  fabulists,  but  as  recorded  by  men  moved  to  write  by 
the  Holy  Spirit.  The  voice  of  all  antiquity  is  not  the 
voice  of  God.  The  voice  of  God  conies  to  us  with 
authority  only  as  revealed  by  his  holy  prophets  and  by 
his  own  son,  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles.  He  is  then 
but  poorly  qualified  to  appreciate  the  gospel,  or  to  teach 
it  to  others  as  a  minister,  or  Sabbath  school  teacher,  who 
is  a  stranger  to  the  treasury  of  truth  contained  in  the 
Old  Testament.  Nor  are  the  narratives  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament fit  only  to  instruct  adults.  They  supply  the  best 
material  for  impressing  on  the  mind  of  childhood  the 
lessons  of  our  holy  religion. 

"Here  mines  of  knowledge,  love  and  joy 

Are  open  to  our  M;.'!:!  : 
The,  purest  gold  without  alloy 
And  gems  ui\  iuely  bright. 

The  councils  of  redeeming  grace 

Their  sacred  leaves  unfold : 
And  here  the  Saviour's  lovely  face 

Our  raptured  eyes  behold 


RULED  FROM  THEIR  URNS.  59 

Here,  light  descending  from  above 

Directs  our  doubtful  feet, 
Here  promises  of  heavenly  love 

Our  ardent  wishes  meet." 

We  have  the  authority  of  an  apostle,  that  whatsoever 
things  were  written  aforetime  by  Moses  and  the  prophets 
were  written  for  our  learning.  There  is  no  fact  recorded 
in  Bible  history  that  has  not  its  echo  still.  The  living 
world  is  but  the  recurring  cycles  of  the  past.  Many  of 
the  actors  on  the  stage  of  past  history,  are  at  this  mo- 
ment exercising  a  great  influence  on  the  world.  Hearts 
long  since  cold  under  the  green  sod  have  sent  out  pulsa- 
tions that  are  now  beating,  and  will  not  cease  till  the 
sound  of  the  trumpet  of  the  last  day.  They,  being  dead 
yet  speak — still  live  by  their  influence  on  the  acting 
generation,  who  will  transmit  their  influence  to  the  gene- 
rations yet  to  come.  The  great  and  good  of  all  past 
ages  lived  for  us.  Abel  suffered  for  us.  Abraham  was 
tried  for  us.  The  patriarchs,  prophets,  lawgivers,  and 
wise  men  of  old,  "  the  noble  army  of  martyrs" — all  lived 
and  died  for  us.  Every  mother's  babe  in  Christendom 
is  at  this  moment  under  the  influence  of  the  histories  of 
the  Bible.  Whatsoever  was  done  and  said  from  the 
beginning,  is  impressing  its  influence  upon  our  hearts 
and  actions  at  this  very  moment.  If  this  be  true  in 
general,  as  it  certainly  is,  then  the  biographies  of  the 
earlier  periods  of  the  Bible  are  worthy  of  our  serious 
attention.  They  reveal  the  existence  and  attributes  of 
the  Creator,  and  teach  us  how  men  and  women  like  our- 
selves feared  and  served  God. 

II.  It  is  desirable,  therefore,  in  the  next  place,  that 
we  understand  on  what  jilan  or  method  and  with  what 
design  these  earlier  biographies  of  the  Hible  were  written. 


60  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

We  believe  there  is  a  God,  a  personal,  a  living  God, 
who  is  a  Spirit,  infinite  and  eternal,  in  contradistinction 
to  "  the  dead  god  of  deism  "  and  pantheism.  AVe  have 
a  God  to  glorify  and  enjoy  as  well  as  a  soul  to  save. 
And  to  enable  us  to  do  this,  God  has  spoken  to  us.  He 
has  come  down  to  us,  that  we  may  go  up  to  him.  Our 
Creator  has  come  down  to  us  in  various  ways  and  by 
manifold  representations — by  appearing  to  the  patri- 
archs and  speaking  to  them  and  the  prophets  in  several 
ways,  and  last  of  all,  by  his  son  Jesus  Christ.  Next  to 
the  existence  of  God  in  importance  to  us,  is  the  question 
of  a  revelation  from  him  to  us  as  his  creatures.  If  we 
have  no  access  to  him — if  there  is  no  communication 
between  us  and  our  Creator,  we  are  of  all  creatures  the 
most  miserable.  Our  higher  nature  and  nobler  aspira- 
tions are  then  only  to  make  us  susceptible  of  miseries 
the  brute  can  never  know.  But,  "  God  who,  at  sundry 
times  and  in  divers  manners  spake  in  times  past  unto 
the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  in  these  last  days 
spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son,  whom  he  hath  appointed 
heir  of  all  things,  by  whom  also  he  made  the  worlds. 
Who  is  the  brightness  of  his  glory,  and  the  express 
image  of  his  person."  In  this  God-man,  the  infinite 
and  the  finite  meet  in  perfect  harmony. 

In  the  Old  Testament  as  well  as  the  New,  we  have 
both  a  revelation  from  God,  and  a  record  in  which  that 
revelation  is  envelope*  1.  God  has  spoken  to  us,  and  we 
have  a  reliable  record  of  what  he  has  said.  Hume 
and  Gibbon,  Voltaire,  D'Alembert,  Diderot  and  their 
associates  and  followers  diivrlcd  their  attacks  against 
Christianity  itself,  but  for  the  last  fifty  years,  the  ene- 
mies of  the  Gospel  have  chiefly  aimed  to  destroy  the 


THE    GREAT"   QUESTION    OP    OUR    DAY.  61 

authority  of  its  written  records.  They  have  not  busied 
themselves  so  much  in  denying  the  existence  or  neces- 
sity of  revealed  religion,  as  in  seeking  to  destroy  all 
dependence  upon  its  record,  or  the  interpretation  of  it. 
They  tell  us  quite  patronizingly,  revealed  religion  is 
desirable.  It  is  a  good  thing,  if  we  could  only  know 
what  it  is.  Now  we  maintain  that  we  have  not  merely 
the  idea  of  Christianity  in  the  Bible,  but  we  have  Chris- 
tianity itself,  and  we  have  a  suitable,  intelligible  record 
of  it,  and  of  what  it  is.  We  may  not  only  know  that 

REVEALED    TRUTH    IS,  but  W6  MAY    KNOW  WHAT  IT  IS. 

Beyond  all  controversy,  the  great  question  of  our  day, 
turns  upon  the  interpretation  of  the  Divine  Word..  It 
is  important  then  for  us  to  be  acquainted  with  the  history 
and  proofs  of  Divine  revelation,  and  to  know  that  the 
Bible  contains  that  revelation.  The  unerring  message 
is  invested  in  an  infallible  record.  The  Divine  Messen- 
ger became  incarnate  in  a  perfect  human  organism. 
The  revelation  is  heavenly,  while  the  record,  or  history 
of  it  is  earthly  ;  but  this  record  was  made  by  Divine 
direction.  And  if  the  Creator  has  really  made  a  com- 
munication to  our  race,  we  have  a  right  to  expect  that 
he  would  take  care  that  it  should  be  made  in  such  a 
way  as  to  embody  and  bring  clown  to  human  apprehen- 
sion just  what  he  had  to  say  to  us,  and  that  he  would 
cause  such  a  record  of  his  revelation  to  be  made  and 
preserved,  as  would  make  known  to  the  different  gener- 
ations of  mankind  his  will  for  their  salvation.  Has  God 
spoken  to  us  ?  Can  we  find  out  exactly  what  he  has 
said  ?  According  to  our  view,  these  questions  are  not  to 
be  separated.  For  it  is  an  impeachment  of  the  Divine 
wisdom  and  benevolence  to  suppose  the  former  without 


G2  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

the  latter,  and  the  latter  of  course  implies  the  former. 
As  it  is  scarcely  possible  in  our  day  to  over  estimate  the 
question  of  Divine  inspiration,  at  the  risk  of  repeating, 
we  shall  dwell  somewhat  on  these  questions.  The 
authority  of  councils,  the  orthodoxy  of  creeds  and  the 
infallibility  of  popes,  are  of  no  consequence  in  compari- 
son, with  the  subject  of  inspiration,  nor  have  we  any 
rule  by  which  to  settle  such  questions,  until  we  have 
found  INFALLIBILITY  in  the  Divine  Word.  If  our  Crea- 
tor has  not  revealed  himself  to  us,  we  have  no  religion 
at  all.  And  if  lie  has  revealed  himself,  but  allowed 
the  record  of  his  own  revelation  to  be  so  made  that  we 

cannot  know  what  it  is   he  has  revealed,  then  we  are 

• 

made  conscious  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  true 
religion,  and  painfully  conscious  too  of  our  need  of  it, 
but  left  totally  unable  to  find  it,  or  to  know  certainly 
what  it  is.  But  to  make  our  answer  as  broad  and  as 
direct  as  our  questionings,  we  say  God  has  spoken  from 
heaven  to  us,  and  we  may  know  with  as  much  absolute 
certainty  as  we  can  know  anything,  both  that  God  has 
spoken  to  us  and  what  it  is  he  has  said  to  us.  Our 
Creator  has  revealed  his  will  to  us  for  our  salvation, 
and  we  may  know  what  it  is,  and  what  that  salvation  is. 
In  the  Bible  we  have  an  external  revelation,  and  a  real 
inspiration,  and  in  the  teachings  of  the  same  Spirit  of 
God  by  whom  this  revelation  and  inspiration  have  been 
made,  we  have  also  an  inward  and  subjective  illumina- 
tion. The  concurrence  of  faith  in  the  former  with 
personal  experience  of  the  latter  constitutes  us  true 
Christians. 

Revelation  and  inspiration   arc   distinct;  but   as  we 
receive  these  terms,  the  one  implies  the  other.     By  a 


REVELATION    AND    INSPIRATION.  63 

revelation  we  mean  a  communication  of  truth  from  God 
to  man.  By  inspiration  we  mean  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
moved  the  prophets  and  apostles  who  received  commu- 
nications from  God  to  write  them  out,  transferring  God's 
thoughts  that  were  put  into  their  minds  by  his  Spirit 
into  human  language,  and  so  transferring  them  as  not  to 
mix  any  error  with  them,  or  make  any  mistake  in  the 
use  of  language.  We  believe,  then,  that  the  Bible  is 
God's  own  inspired  Word,  and  that  it  is  an  all-sufficient 
rule  of  faith  and  conduct.  It  does  not  follow,  however, 
that  all  the  revelations  that  God  has  been  pleased  to 
make  have  been  accompanied  with  the  gift  of  inspiration 
to  make  a  record  of  them.  If  we  mistake  not,  some 
have  had  revelations  in  the  highest  sense,  who  did  not 
write  them  out.  And  some  have  been  inspired  to  write, 
who  were  endowed  with  power  to  work  miracles,  and 
yet  probably  received  no  revelations  themselves.  But 
all  the  revealed  truths  of  holy  Scripture  have  been  trans- 
ferred to  human  language  by  the  inspiration  of  God.  It 
seems  to  us  that  one  of  the  prolific  causes  of  the  confusion 
that  is  found  in  many  writers  on  this  subject  is  the  want 
of  distinct  and  clear  statements  as  to  what  they  mean  by 
revelation  and  inspiration.  Another  cause  doubtless  is 
that  many  authors  undertake  to  explain  too  much,  espec- 
ially as  to  the  modus  of  God's  making  known  his  will 
to  us.  If  we  are  sure  of  the  fact,  may  we  not  rest 
content  in.  the  assurance  that  Infinite  Wisdom  employed 
the  right  "  divers  manners  "  1  o  make  communications  to 
our  race  ?  We  hold  therefore  that  the  sacred  writers 

» 

received  the  truths  which  they  have  recorded  from  God 
in  a  supernatural  way,  and  that  they  were  commanded 
by  God  himself  to  make  the  transcript  of  these  truths 


64  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

for  us,  and  were  so  directed  and  assisted  in  making  this 
transcript  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  we  have  in  this  tran- 
script not  only  a  true  and  reliable  record  of  God's 
thoughts  concerning  us,  but  the  very  thoughts  themselves. 
The  great  question  then,  is  not  to  distinguish  between 
the  revelation  and  the  record  and  history  of  that  reve- 
lation, but  to  get  at  what  the  revelation  is — what  does  it 
reveal  ?  It  is  of  no  use  to  believe  that  the  revelation  is 
itself  divine.,  if  its  enveloping  record  is  erroneous,  for  in 
that  case,  we  can  never  be  sure  that  we  have  a  revela- 
tion of  God's  will  at  all.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  so 
able  a  writer  as  Soame  Jenyns  in  exalting  the  importance 
of  the  "  Internal  Evidences  of  the  Christian  Religion," 
should  have  thought  it  necessary  to  make  so  marked  a 
distinction  between  the  revelation  that  God  has  made  to 
us,  and  the  history  we  have  of  that  revelation.  He 
contends  that  we  have  a  heavenly  message,  but  "it  is 
enclosed  in  a  fallible  earthly  case,  by  which  it  is  indeed 
pollute -d."  And  yet,  he  says  the  human  errors  and 
imperfections  of  the  history  of  this  revelation  do  not 
effect  its  divine  origin.  "A  diamond,  though  found  in  a 
bed  of  anud,  is  still  a  diamond,  nor  can  the  dirt  which 
surrounds  it  depreciate  its  value  or  destroy  its  lustre." 
In  the  translation,  versions  and  transcriptions  of  the 
ancient  writings  of  the  prophets  and  apostles,  and  in  the 
different  editions  of  our  holy  Scriptures,  there  are  verbal 
inaccuracies.  If  there  were  not,  they  have  been  pre- 
vented by  a  continued  miracle.  And  it  is  doubtless  true, 
that  the  sacred  writers  have  recorded  some  things  that 
they  did  not  need  supernatural  influence  to  teach  to 
them.  If  Luke  has  copied  his  genealogy  of  the  mother 
of  our  Lord  from  the  Hebrew  tables  in  common  use  at 


THE   MESSAGE    IS    OF    GOD.  65 

Jerusalem  or  Nazareth,  he  did  not  require  any  other 
special  divine  assistance  to  do  it,  than  to  originate  the 
conception  of  so  doing.  And  Paul  could  tell  his  name, 
and  how  he  had  left  his  cloak  and  parchments  at  Troas 
without  the  miraculous  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
But  even  in  recording  such  natural  events,  or  circum- 
stances of  common  life,  as  they  could  have  recorded  if 
they  had  not  been  prophets  and  apostles,  they  were  so 
guided  and  overruled,  as  to  record  nothing  but  what  the 
Holy  Spirit  saw  it  best  to  have  recorded  for  the  end  in 
view.  We  have  therefore  a  revelation  from  God,  and 
such  a  record  and  history  of  that  revelation  as  God  him- 
self caused  to  be  written  by  his  Holy  Spirit.  The 
Bible  is  the  WORD  OF  THE  ONE,  ONLY,  LIVING  AND 
TRUE  GOD.  We  cannot  believe  that  it  is  "a  heap  of 
mummery  and  priestcraft,"  nor  that  the  Creator  should 
make  a  revelation  of  himself  to  man,  and  yet  not  pro- 
vide suitably  for  the  communication  of  that  revelation. 
It  is  to  call  in  question  his  sincerity  and  wisdom,  to  say 
that  he  has  revealed  certain  doctrines  for  the  salvation 
of  mankind,  and  yet  made  no  provision  for  an  infallibly 
valid  vehicle  of  that  revelation.  In  the  Scriptures,  then, 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  we  have  the  revelation  of 
God,  and  the  record  of  it,  and  it  is  comparatively  easy 
to  distinguish  and  separate  the  perfect  from  the  imper- 
fect of  that  record.  It  surely  is  no  argument  against  the 
inspiration  of  Isaiah,  that  some  words  in  our  translation 
should  be  spelled  differently  in  different  editions  ;  or  that 
there  should  be  a  difference  in  punctuation  and  such 
other  minutiae.  The  essential  integrity  of  the  sacred 
text  has  been  preserved.  The  message  and  the  vehicle 
of  the  message  are  from  God.  What  God  has  revealed 


6G  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

has  been  written  for  us  by  his  direction.  The  sacred 
writers  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  write  as  they 
did.  What  then  have  they  written,  and  for  what  pur- 
pose did  the  Holy  Ghost  move  them  to  write  ?  The 
Bible  is  no  more  without  a  design,  a  plan  and  a  unity 
than  is  the  universe.  Though  composed  of  two  great 
departments,  and  of  many  different  books  written  by  dif- 
ferent authors,  stretching  over  about  two  thousand  years, 
and  living  and  writing  at  different  periods  and  different 
places,  still  the  Bible  is  not  a  series  of  detached  and 
independent  documents,  mechanically  strung  together  by 
the  hand  of  a  compiler,  nor  is  it  a  farrago  of  heteroge- 
neous fragments  accidentally  combined.  On  the  contrary, 
it  is  a  bonajide  history.  It  is  pervaded  from  beginning 
to  end  by  one  dominant  idea.  One  great  specific  pur- 
pose is  in  view  from  the  first  word  of  Genesis  to  the  end 
of  the  Revelation  of  John.  On  what  plan  then  was  the 
Bible  written  and  for  what  purpose  ? 

Some  tell  us  that  the  Old  Testament  in  particular  is 
a  collection  of  romances — that  the  patriarchs  and  judges 
of  Israel  were  mere  Bedouin  or  nomadic  chiefs,  like  the 
Sheikhs  of  the  modern  Arabs,  and  that  the  germ  of 
truth  was  furnished  by  their  lives,  which  the  writer  has 
taken,  and  worked  up  after  the  most  approved  manner 
of  fiction.  The  Old  Testament  according  to  this  view, 
is  nothing  but  a  biography  of  some  wandering  chieftains, 
written  in  the  style  of  oriental  exaggeration.  Some  who 
are  ashamed  of  such  a  theory  as  this,  modify  it,  by  tell- 
ing us,  the  lives  of  the  patriarchs  and  judges  were  never 
meant  to  be  received  as  true  histories  at  all,  but  as  mere 
poetical  descriptions  of  life  and  manners  of  early  time-, 
somewhat  after  the  manner  of  the  Eclogues  and  Buco- 


WASHINGTON    NOT   A   MYTH.  G7 

lies.  What  then  becomes  of  the  historic  memoirs,  na- 
tional festivals  commemorative  of  actual  events,  and  of 
contemporary  and  subsequent  allusions  in  the  history  of 
other  nations,  and  of  the  superiority  of  their  style  and 
of  their  doctrines,  and  of  this  whole  class  of  proofs  and 
subjects  ? 

Another  view  is  that  the  history  of  the  patriarchs  and 
judges  is  strictly  true,  but  not  of  them  as  individuals ; 
but  as  a  history  of  races  and  revolutions.  Abraham, 
Joseph  and  Samuel  are  according  to  their  view  not  the 
names  of  individuals,  but  ideal  types  of  principles  or  of 
races.  They  are  myths,  that  is,  "  ideas  clothed  in  facts." 
And  these  myths  were  invented  to  explain  subsequent 
events.  Just  as  if  the  history  of  the  beginning  of  the 
American  Revolution  about  the  stamp  act  and  the  tax 
on  tea,  and  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  had  been  invented 
to  account  for  the  present  fact  that  the  United  States  is 
an  independent  nation  and  separate  from  Great  Britain. 
And  that  WASHINGTON  was  not  an  individual  at  all,  but 
a  name  invented  and  made  to  represent  the  embodiment 
of  the  heroic  deeds  of  our  ancestors.  It  is  certainly  a 
sufficient  answer  to  such  a  theory  to  say  that  the  ancients 
were  as  palpable  individualities  as  we  are  ourselves.  It 
is  no  easy  matter  to  refine  and  sublimate  their  flesh  and 
blood  and  personal  actions  into  mere  myths.  Does  not 
primeval  history  deal  with  individualities  as  truly  as 
the  history  of  our  own  times  ?  The  same  philosophy 
that  makes  Homer,  or  Socrates,  Moses  or  Abraham  a 
myth,  would  make  all  the  past  nothing  but  a  myth  to  us, 
and  we  ourselves  myths  to  our  successors.  The  true 
view  is  a  happy  deliverance  from  such  artificial  and 
erroneous  systems.  It  is  this  :  The  history  of  Bible 


C8  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

| 

characters  was  recorded  for  the  moral  improvement  of 
mankind,  by  furnishing  examples  of  virtue  and  vice,  the 
one  rewarded  and  the  other  punished.  In  and  along 
with  this  history  we  have  an  embodiment  of  Divine 
Revelation,  so  that  the  doctrines  and  principles  revealed 
and  the  duties  taught  are  illustrated  by  living  examples, 
and  the  well-being  of  those  that  do  well,  and  the  ill-being 
of  those  that  do  evil  are  set  forth  as  an  encouragement 
to  do  well,  and  a  warning  to  cease  from  evil.  And  the 
revelation  contained  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the  his- 
tory and  record  of  that  revelation  are  all  so  made  as  to 
be  introductory  to  the  Gospel  dispensation.  Moses,  the 
law  and  the  prophets  prepared  the  way  for  the  coming 
of  Christ. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  if  the  history  of  Bible  char- 
acters is  a  true  biography  of  individuals,  we  shall  have 
a  full  face  view  of  men  and  women,  as  they  really 
were.  Accordingly,  it  is  not  a  profile  picture  we  have, 
but  a  true  full  face.  Their  faults  are  recorded  as  faith- 
fully as  their  virtues.  There  is  no  attempt  made  by  the 
sacred  writers  to  justify  or  explain  away  every  appear- 
ance of  a  fault  in  the  conduct  of  those  of  whom  they 
write,  nor  is  there  any  tampering  with  the  principles  of 
morals,  to  excuse  them.  And  if  the  specific  purpose  of 
the  writings  of  Moses,  was  to  prepare  the  chosen  people 
for  their  covenant  relation  to  Jehovali,  ;md  through  them 
to  prepare  the  ancient  church  and  the  world  for  the  coin- 
ing of  the  long  promised  Messiah,  still  it  remains  true 
that  we  have  a  truthful  record  of  individuals,  and  of 
divine  communications  made  to  them. 

THE  MAIN  DESIGN  of  the  record  that  we  have  of  the 
patriarchs,  and  of  the  chosen  people  of  God,  was  to  teach 


THE    LINE    OF    BLESSING.  69 

mankind  that  it  was  true,  that  God  had  always  in  some 
way  kept  up  a  communication  with  the  human  race.  By 
acts,  promises,  commands,  and  manifest  tokens  of  the 
Divine  presence,  the  great  idea  was  alive  in  the  mind  of 
some  one,  who  in  that  particular,  was  a  representative 
and  depository  for  his  race,  that  God  was  still  accessible 
to  his  creatures — that  he  was  manifesting,  and  would 

CJ  * 

still  more  clearly  manifest  himself  to  mankind.  First 
he  called  Abraham,  then  the  promise  was  to  his  descend- 
ants, and  in  process  of  time  they  became  a  great  people 
and  to  them  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God.  As 
mankind  multiplied  and  spread  abroad,  the  line  became 
more  distinctive,  but  as  the  time  drew  near,  clearer  and 
clearer  intimations  were  given  of  the  extension  of  the 
blessings  of  Abraham's  covenant  seed  by  the  coming 
and  kingdom  of  the  great  Messiah.  Of  necessity  there- 
fore the  history  of  the  chosen  people  who  were  the 
depository  of  the  divine  oracles  must  be  a  record  of 
gracious  and  providential  interpositions,  as  well  as  of 
individual  verities.  We  should  expect  a  priori  to  find 
in  it  a  supernatural  element,  prophecy  and  miracle, 
theophanies,  or  divine  appearances  in  human  form,  as 
well  as  a  record  of  the  accidents  of  humanity  in  commu- 
nion with  the  Deity.  Now  it  would  be  unnatural  if 
there  had  been  no  imperfections  to  record  in  the  lives 
of  the  patriarchs,  judges,  prophets  and  kings  of  Israel. 
And  if  they  had  not  been  men  of  like  passions  with  our- 
selves, or  even  worse,  there  had  been  no  such  display  of 
sovereignty  in  selecting  them,  as  would  correct  their 
pride.  The  intrinsic  weakness  of  the  vessel  is  clearly 
shown,  that  it  may  be  confessed  that  it  was  an  act  of  pure 
sovereignty  that  chose  them  as  the  channels  of  divine 


70  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

grace.  Oftentimes  their  own  views  and  cherished  wishes 
were  thwarted.  Abraham's  hopes  in  Ishmael,  Isaac's 
in  Joseph  were  disappointed.  The  promised  seed  came 
not  in  the  line  of  either.  The  prophetic  preeminence 
was  lodged  elsewhere.  The  patriarchs  received  special 
divine  favors,  not  because  they  were  perfect — not  because 
they  were  better  than  all  the  rest  of  their  cotemporaries. 
It  may  be  doubted,  speaking  after  the  manner  of  men,  if 
Melchesidek  was  not  more  entitled  to  the  distinction  of 
being  the  progenitor  of  the  chosen  race  than  Abram  of 
the  Chaldees. 

At  least,  as  it  was  not  a  reward  for  extraordinary  piety 
that  the  patriarchs  received  such  favors,  so  neither  was 
it  because  of  their  transgressions,  but  in  spite  of  them. 
It  was  not  for  their  sakes,  but  for  a  far  higher  and 
greater  purpose.  And  as  a  corrective  of  corruption  and 
pride — of  despondency  and  presumption,  a  faithful  nar- 
rative has  been  given  of  them  as  men,  and  the  Divine 
sovereignty  is  manifested  in  their  salvation,  and  in  the 
manner  of  their  treatment,  as  well  as  in  the  record  that 
has  been  made  of  the  revelation  made  to  them.  It  was 
certainly  a  palpable  lesson  to  the  Hebrew  and  a  power- 
ful corrective  of  his  pride,  to  know  that,  if  through 
David's  race,  he  was  of  Abraham,  "  the  friend  of  God," 
that  Ishmael  was  not  less  Abraham's  son,  and  Esau  was 
Jacob's  brother,  and  Moab  and  Ammon  were  the  sons  of 
Lot.  The  Bible  is  a  map  that  traces  all  nations  to  a 
common  origin,  and  shows  that  though  their  lines  of 
descent  are  continually  crossing  one  another,  still  God 
has  kept  his  chosen  people  distinct,  that  in  them  he 
might  show  forth  his  sovereignty  and  the  seventy  of 
his  judgments  and  the  greatness  of  his  mercy. 


BIBLE    HEROES    NOT    SAINTS.  71 

It  is  not  necessary  for  maintaining  this  design  of  Bible 
biography,  that  we  should  deny  that  there  were  any 
other  purposes  in  view.  Collateral  and  minor  ends  were 
no  doubt  answered  in  the  Pentateuch,  and  in  the  history 
of  the  Judges,  and  through  the  whole  and  by  the  whole, 
the  ancient  church  is  seen  as  a  type  of  that  which  was  to 
come. 

"While,  then,  it  is  a  painful  fact,  it  is  nevertheless  an 
instructive  one,  that  we  have  no  perfect  biography  in  the 
Bible,  except  that  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  Holy  One. 
The  patriarchs  were  all  guilty  of  some  dark  sin.  The 
apostles  were  not  blameless.  They  all  had  their  fail- 
ings. We  must  remember,  however,  that  the  Bible  in 
recording  the  sins  of  patriarchs  and  apostles  does  not 
approve  of  their  sinful  acts.  The  Bible  does  not  tell  us 
that  such  acts  were  the  perfect  fruits  of  their  faith.  On 
the  contrary,  their  creed  condemned  every  one  of  their 
sins.  Their  errors  were  not  the  consequences  of  their 
religion,  but  in  spite  of  it.  It  was  not  because  they  were 
pious,  that  they  fell  into  such  grievous  skis,  but  because 
they  had  not  piety  enough  to  resist  their  own  depraved 
inclinations  and  the  devil's  temptations.  And  in  the  fact 
that  the  sacred  writers  describe  with  impartiality  both 
the  faults  and  the  virtues  of  the  founders  of  their  nation? 
we  have  a  strong  proof  that  they  wrote  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  God.  As  Jews  they  were  exceedingly  proud, 
and  disposed  to  magnify  everything  that  belonged  to 
their  nation.  It  must  have  been  therefore  sorely  against 
their  natural  feelings  to  record  the  glaring  misdeeds  of 
their  fathers,  patriarchs,  judges,  and  prophets.  It  was 
against  their  national  pride  and  patriotism,  to  do  so ;  yet 
we  find  them  all  honest,  faithful  and  impartial  hi  their 


72  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

memoirs  of  the  heroes  of  their  nation.  Even  Morell  in 
his  Philosophy  of  Religion,  admits  that  if  the  Spirit  of 
God  was  in  the  Hebrew  church,  "  then  the  writings  which 
embody  this  religious  state  are  inspired."  But  in  the 
record  of  their  religious  state  we  are  not  to  expect  "  a 
//if/her  religion  or  a  more  perfect  morality  than  actually 
existed  in  those  times ;  hence  accordingly  the  imperfec- 
tions both  in  moral  and  religious  ideas  which  are  mixed 
up  with  all  their  sacred  writings." — Page  169. 

FINALLY.  It  is  not  true  therefore  that  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  a  failure.  It  accomplished  all  it  was  intended 
to  do.  It  is  not  true  that  the  Creator  set  up  one  religion 
for  one  race  in  the  age  of  the  patriarchs,  and  finding  that 
it  did  not  work  well,  tried  to  mend  it  by  the  Mosaic  dis- 
pensation, and  then  repaired  Moses'  institutes  by  the 
prophets.  This  is  the  mere  garrulity  of  obsolete  Deism. 
The  religion  of  the  Bible  is  one.  Christianity  is  as  old 
as  the  creation.  Abel  and  Noah  were  Christians  as 
much  as  Peter  and  Paul.  They  looked  forward,  while 
Peter  and  Paul  looked  back.  They  anticipated  the 
sacrifice  on  Calvary,  while  the  apostles  and  all  chris- 
tians  since  the  incarnation  keep  it  in  remembrance. 
God's  plan  of  revealing  redemption  from  the  beginning 
was  to  be  progressive  to  the  incarnation.  The  old  dispen- 
sation was  not  intended  to  be  effectual  or  final  in  itself.  It 
was  the  shadow  of  good  things  to  come.  And  the  promix  •> 
fulfilled  in  us  are  as  necessary  as  the  promises  given  to 
the  patriarchs.  "They  are  like  the  two  parts  of  a  tally. 
The  fathers  had  one  part,  in  the  promises,  and  we  the 
other  in  the  fulfillment,  and  neither  would  have  been 
complete  without  the  other."-  -Barnes. 


Sams,on  s  Ibtnis— 


CHAPTER   IV. 


SAMSON'S  PARENTS     THE  HERO  PROMISED. 

"  O  wherefore  was  my  birth  from  heaven  foretold 

Twice  by  an  angel  ? 

Why  was  my  breeding  order'd  and  prescrib'd 
As  of  a  person  separate  to  God, 
Design'd  for  great  exploits  ?"  —Samson. 

IN  a  previous  chapter  I  have  considered  at  some  length 
the  plan,  method  and  design  of  the  biographies  of  the 
Scriptures,  especially  of  the  earlier  ones,  and  have 
attempted  to  set  forth  briefly  the  true  nature  of  the  reve- 
lation and  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  which  not  only  con- 
tains  the  word  of  God,  but  is  the  word  of  God  itself. 
This  has  been  deemed  a  necessary  introduction  to  the 
inspired  history  which  it  is  our  purpose  now  to  explain, 
because  confessedly  in  our  day,  the  question  is,  what  does 
the  Bible  reveal  ?  As  a  book,  as  the  book,  and  as  a  vol- 
ume of  history  it  has  its  place  in  the  world,  from  which 
its  enemies  have  despaired  of  ever  being  able  to  remove 
it.  The  great  question  therefore  now  is,  ivhat  does  the 
Bible  say  ? —  Can  we  arrive  at  a  reliable  interpretation  of 
the  Scriptures  ?  Most  certainly.  We  have  a  revelation 
from  God,  and  an  inspired  record  of  that  revelation. 
And  this  revelation  and  record  are  both  made  in  such  a 
way  that  we  may  know  the  will  of  God  for  our  salva- 


76  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

tion.  As  we  believe  with  Bishop  Horsley  that  every 
word  of  the  Bible  is  from  God,  and  every  man  is  inter- 
ested in  it,  so  it  is  our  purpose  in  these  chapters  on  the 
"  Life  of  the  Hebrew  Hercules,"  to  give  a  condensed 
commentary  upon  the  text,  and  draw  from  it  the  life  of 
our  hero.  We  shall  introduce  to  you  therefore  without 
further  ceremony  Samson's  parents  receiving  the  promise 
of  the  hero-child. 

"What  then  was  their  political  condition,  and  how  were 
they  circumstanced  as  to  their  neighbors  ? 

And  the  children  of  Israel  did  evil  again.  That  is, 
according  to  the  Hebrew,  added  to  commit  evil,  the  evil 
of  the  idolatry  of  the  surrounding  heathen,  which  in  their 
case  was  both  treason  and  impiety.  And  the  LORD  deliv- 
ered them  into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines  forty  years. 

Here  are  three  points  to  be  noticed. 

1.  Who  were  the  Philistines? 

2.  In  what  sense  did  their  oppression  of  Israel  con- 
tinue forty  years  ? 

3.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  phrase,  "  And  the 
LORD  delivered  them  into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines  ?" 

First.  The  Philistines  are  believed  to  have  been  a 
colony  from  Egypt.  The  old  name  Palestina  is  supposed 
to  be  a  corruption  of  Philistia.  If  so,  the  whole  land 
of  promise  derived  one  of  the  names  by  which  it  is  desig- 
nated from  a  people  who  never  possessed  more  than  a 
small  part  of  it.  The  name  Palestina  was  first  applied 
to  the  strip  of  country  lying  along  the  Mediterranean 
from  Lydda  to  Gaza ;  then  to  that  part  of  Canaan 
between  the  sea  and  the  Jordan,  and  finally  to  the  whole 
country  ;  so  that  the  land  of  promise,  Judea,  Canaan  and 
Palestine  became  synonymous. 


PHILISTINE    SUPERIORITY.  77 

It  is  evident  that  the  Philistines  in  the  days  of  the 
judges,  and  probably  in  the  days  of  the  patriarchs  also, 
were  superior  to  any  of  their  neighbors.  They  were 
certainly  a  powerful  people  in  Abraham's  day.  This  we 
should  expect,  if  they  were  an  Egyption  colony,  for  the 
ancient  Egyptians  were  altogether  the  most  civilized  and 
the  best  people  of  their  day.  Some  suppose  the  Philis- 
tines were  the  Arabians  expelled  from  Egypt,  and 
known  as  "  the  Shepherd  Kings,"  on  account  of  whose 
depredations  on  Egypt,  every  shepherd  was  reckoned 
"  an  abomination."  As  a  proof  of  their  superiority,  we 
may  observe  that  it  is  said  in  Samuel  iii :  19,  21,  that  in 
the  beginning  of  Saul's  reign  no  smith  was  found  in 
Israel,  so  that  the  Israelites  were  obliged  to  go  down  to 
the  land  of  the  Philistines  to  sharpen  their  ploughshares, 
coulters,  axes  and  mattocks.* 

Even  after  David's  conquest,  we  read  of  the  Philis- 
tines as  a  powerful  people.  They  rose  in  rebellion 
against  Jehoram,  and  made  great  slaughter  in  the  land 
of  Judah  during  the  reign  of  Ahab.  They  were  again 
brought  into  subjection  by  Hezekiah.  The  prophets 
Isaiah,  Amos,  Zephaniali,  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  allude 
to  them.  They  were  partially  subdued  by  Esarhaddon, 
king  of  Assyria,  arid  afterwards  by  the  king  of  Egypt, 
and  still  more  reduced  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of 
Babylon.  The  Persians,  and  then  the  Greeks  under 
Alexander  the  Great  overran  their  country.  Some  allu- 
sion is  made  to  them  in  the  days  of  the  Asmonean 
Princes,  and  then  they  are  lost  from  history. 


*  According  to  Virgil,  the  best  tempered  steel  in  early  ages  was  from  the  iron 
works  of  the  Chalybes.  "At  Chalybes  nudi  ferrum."  Does  not  this  want  a 
commentator? 


78  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

According;  to  the  Greek  translation  of  the  Bible,  the 
name  Philistine  is  not  Hebrew.  They  understood  it  to 
mean  strangers,  or  men  of  another  tribe.  If  this  be 
correct,  the  name  is  singularly  appropriate  to  the  holy 
land.  It  was  emphatically  promised  to  the  pilgrim 
patriarchs. 

From  Amos  ix  :  7  and  Jeremiah  xlvii :  4,  learned  men 

* 

think  that  the  Caphtorim  were,  descendants  of  Mizraim, 
father  of  the  Egyptians.  Gen.  x  :  13,  14.  And  from 
Dent,  ii :  2o,  it  appears,  the  Caphtorim  drove  out  the 
Avim  from  Hazerim  to  Azzali,  (that  is,  Gaza)  and  dwelt 
in  their  stead.  If,  as  it  seems  to  us,  the  Casluhim,  Caph- 
torim, Cherethites  and  Philistines  are  one  and  the  same 
people,  then  AVC  should  conclude  that  the  Philistines  were 
from  Egypt,  and  that  the  most  influential  part  of  them 
came  to  the  main  land  of  Syria  from  Crete.  As  the 
Cherethites  and  the  Cretans  are  the  same,  are  we  not 
authorized  to  identify  Caphtor  and  Crete  ?  See  Ezekiel 
xxv  :  16  ;  Zeph.  ii  :  5  ;  1  Sam.  xxx  :  14,  15.  From  the 
history  of  the  kings  of  Judah,  it  appears  that  their  guards 
were  sometimes  Philistines,  Avho  were  known  under  the 
name  of  Pelethites  and  Cherethites.  These  Pelethite 
(Philistine)  guards  answered  to  the  Capiyis  among  the 
Turks.  If  Caphior  is  not  Crete,  where  is  it?  If  the 
Philistines  were,  not  from  Egypt,  whence  came  they? 
Does  not  their  history  render  their  Egyptian  origin 
very  probable  ?  Some,  indeed,  think  that  Caphtor  was 
in  the  Delta.  Dr.  Chirk  believes  it  identical  with  Cyprus, 
but  gives  no  sat i.- factory  rea.-on.  If.  as  some  think,  Cas- 
luhim meant  inhabitants  of  Colchis,  then  they  were  of 

v 

Egyptian    origin;    for    almost    all    authors    agree    that 
Colchis  was  peopled  from  Egypt.     "'  And  Pathrusim,  and 


THE  FORTY  YEARS'  OPPRESSION.          79 

Casluhim,  out  of  whom  came  Philistine  and  Caphtorim." 
Gen.  x:  14. 

The  government  of  the  Philistines  was  spasmodic  and 
changeable.  In  the  time  of  David  and  in  the  days  of 
Abraham,  they  had  a  king ;  but  during  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Judges,  they  had  a  government  very  similar 
to  that  of  the  Hebrews.  Their  five  great  cities  consti- 
tuted so  many  states,  each  having  its  own  chief.  These 
chiefs  are  in  our  text  called  lords.  The  term,  ser&nim, 
is  found  only  in  the  plural.  Sometimes,  however,  they 
are  found  confederate  together,  making  common  cause 
against  their  national  enemy.  They  were  essentially 
one  people.  They  had  the  same  laws  and  religion,  and 
spoke  the  same  language. 

Secondly.  It  is  probable  the  forty  years  date  from  the 
ascendancy  of  their  enemies  as  recorded  in  the  tenth  chap- 
ter, verses  six,  seven,  and  eight.  That  is,  from  Eglon  to 
Samson,  including  the  twenty  years  of  his  administration. 
The  case  seems  to  stand  in  this  way :  the  Philistines, 
who  were  the  most  powerful  of  all  their  enemies  at  that 
time,  had  tyrannized  over  the  Israelites  for  twenty  years, 
when  Samson  appeared  as  their  deliverer.  During  this 
twenty  years  they  had  suffered  oppression  without  any 
redress,  or  any  one  to  deliver  them.  Samson  arose  and 
acted  as  their  champion  for  twenty  years,  which  make 
the  forty  years  of  the  text.  It  must  be  confessed,  how- 
ever, that  the  chronology  and  dates  of  this  period  are  not 
very  clearly  stated.  The  connexion  of  the  text  is  with 
the  period  occupied  in  the  previous  chapters.  In  the 
beginning  of  this  thirteenth  chapter,  the  writer  seems  to 
turn  back,  and  speak  again  of  the  previous  oppressions 
of  his  countrymen  by  the  Philistines,  in  order  to  intro- 


80  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

duce  Samson  as  their  champion.  And  hence,  he  says, 
that  from  the  beginning  of  this  particular  ascendancy  of 
the  Philistines  to  the  death  of  Samson  when  he  finished 
his  deliverance,  for  the  Hebrews,  it  was  forty  years. 

Thirdly.  After  Shamgar's  exploits  as  recorded  in  a 
previous  chapter,  the  Hebrews  had  a  little  repose.  But 
now  as  they  have  again  departed  from  the  living  God, 
so  the  Philistines  are  again  commissioned  to  punish  them. 
The  Lord  delivered  them  into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines. 
The  struggle  between  the  Hebrews  and  Philistines  was 
one  of  great  obstinacy  and  vicissitude.  It  was  a  border 
war.  Neither  was  able  wholly  to  subdue  the  other. 

In  the  second  chapter,  fourteenth  verse,  the  enemies 
of  God's  chosen  people  are  called  spoilers  ;  that  is,  rob- 
bers, such  as  were  the  plundering  Canaanites.  The  term 
also  means,  oppressors  in  general.  And  to  them  it  is 
said,  the  LORD  sold  the  Israelites.  The  Hebrew  for  sold 
signifies  "  to  alienate  the  possession  of  anything  for  a 
valuable  consideration."  It  is  sometimes  used,  however, 
without  the  annexed  idea  of  an  equivalent  rendered. 
When,  therefore,  as  in  this  passage :  "  the  anger  of  the 
LORD  was  hot  against  Israel,  and  he  sold  them  into  the 
hands  of  their  enemies  around  about  them,"  the  meaning 
is  not  that  the  LORD  made  the  Israelites  to  sin,  but  that 
he  withdrew  from  them  his  peculiar  protection,  and  that 
he  did  this  because  of  their  rebellion  against  him.  The 
scriptures  often  represent  the  withdrawing  of  God's  favor 
as  the  greatest  calamity  that  can  befall  a  nation  or  an 
individual.  See  Ps.  xliv  :  13  ;  Lsa.  1:1;  Deut.  xxxii : 
30 ;  and  Judges  iii  :  8  ;  and  iv :  8.  Moses  had  told 
them  that  when  they  were  disobedient  to  the  LORD,  he 
would  withdraw  from  them  his  peculiar  presence,  which 


GOD    SOVEREIGN MAN    FREE.  81 

was  their  only  safety.  The  delivery  of  the  Hebrews, 
therefore,  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines,  was  nothing 
but  the  fulfillment  of  the  solemn  threatening  made  to 
their  fathers  and  repeated  to  themselves.  It  was  but 
the  execution  of  the  just  sentence  of  God,  who  was  then 
their  king,  for  their  disobedience.  And  to  secure  this 
execution,  it  was  only  necessary  for  the  divine  protection 
to  be  withdrawn.  AVhen  left  to  themselves  they  were 
an  easy  prey  to  the  warlike  heathen.  The  absence  of 
the  sun  leaves  us  in  darkness.  God  is  not  the  author  of 
sin,  nor  can  men  blame  their  Creator  with  their  evil 
ways.  Learned  theologians  have  recourse  to  various 
intermediate  explanations  by  which  to  reconcile  divine 
sovereignty  and  man's  free  agency.  But  it  is  quite 
sufficient  for  me  to  know  that  God  is  sovereign  and  man 
is  free.  And  though  I  were  not  able  to  perceive  how 
God  "sold"  the  Israelites  into  the  hand  of  the  Philis- 
tines, and  that  yet  it  was  for  their  own  sins,  or  how 
Pharaoh  hardened  his  own  heart,  and  that  God  hardened 
Pharaoh's  heart ;  yet  still,  I  am  persuaded  of  both  facts, 
and  hold  them  both  to  be  consistent  with  ethical  and 
mental  philosophy.  What  if  there  be  a  transcendental 
difficulty  in  such  a  harmony  ?  Is  there  not  just  the 
same  in  every  question  that  is  any  how  connected  with 
the  origin  of  moral  or  physical  evil  ?  It  is  doubtless  true 
that  God  is  sometimes  represented  in  the  Bible  as  doing 
what  he  only  permits.  And  yet  I  am  frank  to  say  that 
I  feel  no  necessity  for,  nor  do  I  take  pleasure  in  dwell- 
ing on  such  theological  distinctions.  I  see  not  that  these 

o  O 

distinctions  between  a  divine  permission  and  a  divine 
appointment,  founded  on  the  vis  inertice  of  created 
minds,  which  are  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter,  are 


82  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

really  any  relief.  These  metaphysical  distinctions  do 
not  relieve  human  accountability  from  the  difficulties 
that  mental  philosophy,  or  the  light  of  nature  throws 
upon  it.  The  only  explanation  of  the  difficulty  is  the 
authority  of  God  for  the  facts.  Nor  am  I  able  to  find 
such  distinctions  in  the  word  of  God.  Where  do  the 
scriptures  qualify  or  attempt  to  explain  and  harmonize 
the  statements  about  Pharaoh's  heart  ?  Why  should  our 
theologians  be  more  jealous  of  the  divine  character  than 
the  writers  of  the  Bible  ?  Where  is  our  faith  ?  Is  not 
God  just  and  is  he  not  sovereign  ?  May  we  not  rest 
satisfied  with  the  facts  stated  by  inspired  men  upon  the 
authority  of  God  ? 

Is  it  not  true  every  Lord's  day,  that  some  of  you  listen 
to  the  divine  word,  and  that  hearing  it  with  indifference, 
or  with  aversion,  you  refuse  obedience,  and  thereby 
harden  your  own  heart  under  the  very  process  that  was 
graciously  designed  to  soften  it  ?  And  in  doing  so,  are 
you  not  still  conscious  of  your  own  free  agency  ?  The 
offer  of  pardon  is  made  to  you  in  good  faith.  There  is 
no  deficiency  in  it.  The  sun  that  melts  one  substance 
hardens  another  ;  not  because  the  sun  is  in  any  respect 
another  and  a  different  body  to  the  one  from  what  it  is 
to  the  other.  The  ground  of  the  different  and  diverse 
effect  is  in  the  nature  of  [he  body  acted  upon  by  the  sun, 
arid  not  owing  to  any  change  or  defect  in  llic  orb  of  day. 
Salvation  is  always  of  tlie  Lord,  and  perdition  is  alwavs 
the  work  of  the  sinner's  own  hand.  There  is  nothing 

O 

between  the  greatest  sinner  and  salvation,  but  his  own 
unwillingness  to  accept  of  it  as  a  free,  sorereign  gift 
through  Jesus  Christ  as  the  only  redeemer. 

St.  Augustine  explains  this  rrti.r  rrf/tmr/rni,  by  saying 


SAMSON'S  FATHER  AND  MOTHER.  83 

"  God  does  not  harden  men  by  infusing  malice  into  them, 
but  by  not  imparting  mercy  to  them.  God  does  not 
work  this  hardening  of  heart  in  man,  but  he  may  be  said 
to  harden  him  whom  he  does  not  soften,  to  blind  him 
whom  he  does  not  enlighten,  and  to  repel  him,  whom  he 
refuses  to  call."* 

From  the  second  verse,  we-  learn  that  Samson's  father 
belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Dan,  and  the  town  of  Zorah, 
which  seems  to  have  been  a  border  town  between  the 
territories  of  Dan  and  Judah,  and  near  the  country  of 
the  Philistines.  Joshua  xv :  33.  Eusebius  says  Zorah 
was  ten  miles  from  Eleutheropolis.  Calmet  thinks  the 
Zorites  of  1  Chron.  ii :  54,  and  the  Zorathites  of  1  Chron. 
iv :  2,  belonged  to  Manoah's  town. 

Barren  and  bare  not  is  the  usual  Hebrew  affirmation 
emphatic.  "  Thou  shalt  die  and  not  live."  "  And  he 
confessed  and  denied  not."  "  But  Sarai  was  barren  : 
she  had  no  child." 

All  we  know  of  Manoah  impresses  us  with  the  belief, 
that  Josephus  is  correct  in  saying  that  he  was  a  man  of 
great  virtue,  had  but  few  equals,  and  was  without  dispute 
the  principal  person  of  his  country  in  his  day.  His  wife's 
name  is  not  recorded  in  the  Bible,  nor  by  Josephus.  He 
says,  however,  that  she  was  celebrated  for  her  beauty 
and  her  piety. 

^Samson's  father  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  faith. 
He  is  the  only  one  of  whom  the  Bible  speaks,  that 
received  a  promise  from  an  angel  or  prophet  without 


*Non  obdurat  Deus  impartiendo  malitiam,  sed  non  impartiendo  misericor- 
diam.  Non  operatur  Deus  in  homine  ipsam  duritiam  cordis,  scd  indurare 
eum  dicitur  quern  mollire  noluerit,  sic  etiam  excsecare  quern  illuminare 
noluerit,  et  repellere  eum  quern  noluerit  vocare.1'— Epis.  194,  ad  Sixtum. 


84  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

hesitation  or  doubt.  Abraham  required  some  proof. 
Sarah  "  laughed."  The  Shunamite  woman  said  to 
Elisha,  "  Nay  my  Lord,  do  not  lie  unto  thine  handmaid." 
Zachariah  said,  "  Whereby  shall  I  know  this  ?"  and  was 
struck  dumb  for  his  unbelief  until  John  the  Baptist  was 
born.  And  Mary,  the  mother  of  our  Lord,  said,  "  How 
can  this  thing  be  ?"  But  when  Manoah  is  told  by  his 
wife  and  then  by  the  angel  what  is  to  take  place,  he 
believed  without  any  hesitation,  and  only  desired  to  be 
instructed  as  to  how  they  were  to  bring  up  the  promised 
child.  And  the  angel  of  the  LORD  appeared  unto  the 
woman,  and  said  unto  her,  behold  now,  thou  art  barren, 
and  barest  not:  but  thou  shalt  conceive,  and  bear  a  son. 

Now  therefore,  beware,  I  pray  thee,  and  drink  not  wine, 
nor  strong  drink,  and  eat  not  any  unclean  thing.  For, 
lo,  thou  shalt  conceive,  and  bear  a  son :  and  no  razor 
shall  come  on  his  head  ;  for  the  child  shall  be  a  Nazarite 
unto  God  from  the  womb  ;  and  he  shall  begin  to  deliver 
Israel  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Philistines. — Verses  3,  4,  5. 

And  the  angel  of  the  LORD,  that  is,  "  the  Son  of  God 
himself,"  according  to  Diodati  and  most  evangelical  com- 
mentators. Of  this  matter  we  shall  speak  again  in  the 
next  chapter. 

The  angel  told  the  woman  what  she  already  well 
knew — what  was  indeed  the  cause  of  great  grief  to  her — 
not  to  upbraid  her  or  aggravate  her  grief.  There  is  no 
reproach  cast  upon  her  in  the  angel's  address.  His 
purpose  was  to  give  her  confidence — to  convince  her 
that  he  was  a  true  prophet,  and  competent  to  make  the 
promise  of  a  son — and  that  she  ought  therefore  to  believe 
his  words.  Like  a  skillful  medical  man,  he  describes 
first  the  disease,  that  he  may  inspire  his  patient  with 


TRUE    RULE    OF    MIRACLES.  85 

confidence  in  his  sympathy  for  him  and  ability  to  apply 
the  proper  remedy.  Our  blessed  Lord  followed  the 
same  method  in  arresting  the  attention  of  the  impotent 
man  at  the  pool.  He  awakened  him  to  the  fact  of  his 
presence  and  assured  him  of  his  sympathy  and  inspired 
him  with  hope  by  asking  him  if  he  would  be  made  whole. 
And  he  told  the  woman  of  Samaria  enough  of  her  life  to 
convince  her  he  was  a  prophet,  and  prepared  her  at  last 
to  confess  that  he  was  the  Messiah  himself. 

The  prohibition  in  the  fourth  verse  does  not  imply 
that  she  had  been  guilty  of  excess.  Nor  is  it  intimated 
that  such  things  were  not  lawful  at  other  times  and  to 
other  persons.  It  is  true  some  meats  were  regarded  as 
unclean  among  the  Jews.  The  distinction  of  clean  and 
unclean  animals  is  at  least  as  old  as  Noah,  and  no  doubt 
as  old  as  sacrifices.  But  it  was  especially  forbidden  to 
a  Nazarite  to  touch  anything  unclean.  The  angel  would 
have  her  understand  that  the  sanctifying  of  her  child 
was  to  begin  with  herself.  From  her  conception,  the 
child  was  to  be  regarded  as  consecrated  in  an  especial 
manner  to  God.  And  if  during  her  gestation  and  nurs- 
ing, she  was  thus  abstemious,  the  extraordinary  strength 
of  the  child  would  be  the  less  liable  to  be  ascribed  to 
any  false  or  fictitious  cause.  There  was  a  natural  fitness 
in  the  prescribed  regimen  and  temperament  to  produce 
a  healthful  child,  but  his  superhuman  strength  cannot  be 
accounted  for  from  merely  natural  causes.  A  miracu- 
lous agency  was  employed,  as  we  shall  see  in  the 
unfoldings  of  his  history  ;  yet  it  was  then  as  in  many 
other  cases,  the  divine  rule,  that  the  ordinary  natural 
means  should  be  used.  Miracles  do  not  supersede, 
but  go  beyond  and  above  ordinary  agencies.  There  is 


86  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

always  a  harmony  between  divine  efficiency  and  human 
agency. 

A  Nazarite  unto  God  from  the  ivo?nb,  means  one  set 
apart  and  consecrated  especially  to  the  service  of  God. 
There  is  no  connection  between  a  Nazarite  and  a  Naza- 
rene.  The  latter  means  an  inhabitant  of  Nazareth,  the 
town  of  our  Lord's  parents.  But  a  Nazarite  was  one 
wholly  devoted  to  God.  And  of  such  it  was  especially 
required,  that  they  should  not  shave  their  head.  The 
law  of  the  Nazarite  can  be  found  in  Numbers  vi.  Though 
expected  to  be  a  person  of  uncommon  self  denial  and 
sanctity,  the  Nazarite  was  not  a  recluse,  nor  an  ascetic. 
He  did  not  live  in  a  cell,  nor  on  a  pillar,  nor  in  the  wil- 
derness. He  might  eat,  drink,  marry  and  live  in  society 
as  other  men,  excepting  that  he  was  to  avoid  all  ceremo- 
nial pollution,  and  especially  never  to  come  in  contact 
with  a  dead  body.  The  vow  to  abstain  from  wine  and 
not  to  shave  the  head  might  be  for  a  limited  time  or  for 
life.  In  the  case  of  Samson,  of  Samuel  and  of  John 
the  Baptist,  however,  the  consecration  was  made  before 
their  birth  and  Avas  to  continue  till  death.  I  believe 
Samson  is  the  first  person  mentioned  in  the  Bible  by 
name  as  an  actual  Nazarite.  Like  Isaac,  Samuel  and 
John  the  Baptist,  he  was  the  only  son  of  a  mother  long 
childless. 

"  Mercies  long  waited  for,  often  prove  signal  mercies, 
and  it  is  made  to  appear  they  Avere  worth  waiting  for, 
and  by  them  others  may  be  encouraged  to  continue  their 
hope  in  God's  mercy."-  -Henry. 

The  mother  of  Israel's  only  giant  drinks  nothing  but 
water,  and  the  child  himself  tastes  nothing  but  "Adam's 
ale."  "  And  never  did  wine,"  says  the  pious  Hall  "  make 


TEMPERANCE  IS  STRENGTH.  87 

so  strong  a  champion  as  water  did  here.  The  power  of. 
nourishment  is  not  in  the  creatures,  but  in  their  maker. 
Daniel  and  his  three  companions  kept  their  complexion 
with  the  same  diet  wherewith  Samson  got  his  strength ; 
he  that  gave  power  to  the  grape,  can  give  it  to  the  stream. 
O  God  how,  how  justly  do  we  raise  our  eyes  from  our 
tables  unto  thee,  which  canst  make  water  nourish  and 
wine  enfeeble." 


"  Oh !  madness  to  think  use  of  strongest  wines 
And  strongest  drinks  our  chief  support  of  health, 
When  God  with  these  forbidd'n  made  choice  to  rear 
His  mighty  champion,  strong  above  compare, 
Whose  drink  was  only  from  the  liquid  brook." 


Special  holiness  eminently  becomes  special  appoint- 
ments to  divine  service.  Special  care  in  food  and  drink 
was  required  of  her  who  was  to  he  the  mother  of  Sam- 
son. The  man  of  the  world  may  take  his  full  scope  and 
deny  himself  nothing.  And  verily  he  hath  his  reward. 
He  may  indulge  the  pride  of  his  heart  and  the  lust  of  his 
eyes,  not  without  sin  indeed,  but  with  less  guilt  than  one 
who  professes  to  be  a  Christian.  For  having  named  the 
name  of  Christ,  we  must  be  careful  to  depart  from  all 
iniquity.  If  we  are  Christ's  we  must  have  his  spirit.  If 
Christians,  we  are  consecrated  to  God  as  true  Nazarites. 
The  man  of  the  world  has  all  his  good  things  now,  and 
it  is  a  miserable,  poor  portion.  The  believer's  good 
things  are  to  come.  They  are  in  Heaven. 

And  he  shall  begin  to  deliver  Israel.  Samson  only 
began  to  deliver  Israel,  for  it  was  not  till  the  days  of 
David,  that  the  Philistines  were  entirely  subdued.  Begin 
to  deliver  seems  here  to  mean,  some  deliverance — pledges, 
specimens  of  what  their  God  was  able  to  do  for  them, 


88  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

.  and  proofs  that  although  they  had  been  so  grievously- 
oppressed  by  the  Amorites  on  their  eastern  border,  and 
now  by  the  Philistines  on  the  west,  still  he  had  not 
wholly  forsaken  them.  The  deliverance  begun  by  Sam- 
son was  most  timely.  This  was  the  darkest  hour  of  their 
oppression.  Their  condition  was  most  humiliating  and 
their  enemies  most  insultingly  cruel.  It  was  God's  time 
for  Moses  to  come,  when  the  tail  of  bricks  was  doubled. 
"  Cum  latera  duplicantur  Moses  adest."  Begin  to  deliver 
also  suggests  that  God's  usual  method  is  to  work  gradu- 
ally. He  has  ordered  that  one  shall  sow,  and  another 
reap.  One  lays  the  foundation,  another  brings  forth  the 
capstone  with  shoutings,  crying  grace,  grace  unto  it. 

Samson  was  the  first  hero  of  the  tribe  of  Dan.  Jacob 
in  his  dying  blessing  had  said  :  "  Dan  shall  be  a  serpent 
by  the  way,  an  adder  in  the  path,  biting  the  heels  of  the 
horse,  so  that  his  rider  shall  fall  backwards."  Gen.  xlix  : 
16,  17.  And  as  the  name  Dan  signifies  judge  or  judg- 
ment, it  has  been  suggested,  that  it  was  a  divine  foretell- 
ing of  Samson,  that  Jacob  uttered  in  dying,  when  he 
said,  Dan  shall  judge  his  people.  That  is,  of  this  tribe 
shall  arise  a  distinguished  judge.  And  this  could  be  no 
other  that  Samson.  The  prophecy  related  to  the  fortunes 
and  exploits  of  Dan's  posterity,  and  not  to  himself  per- 
sonally, and  was  fulfilled  more  remarkably  in  Manoah's 
son,  than  in  any  other  man  of  his  tribe.  As  the  terri- 
tory of  Dan  bordered  on  the  cities  of  the  Philistines,  it 
was  natural  for  them  to  be  the  most  exposed  to  their 
depredations.  It  was  therefore  proper  that  the  avenger 
and  deliverer  of  Israel  should  arise  out  of  this  tribe. 

We  see   also  that  afflictions  are  occasions  for  God's 
appearance.     Divine  help  is  always  opportunely.     The 


SONS    OP    GREAT    MEN.  89 

promise  is  that  grace  shall  be  given  to  us  not  before,  but 
according  to  our  day.  Only  the  sick  really  know  the 
blessings  of  recovery  to  health.  If  Manoah's  wife  had 
not  been  in  grief,  the  angel  had  not  been  sent  to  comfort 
her.  It  has  been  happily  remarked  that  in  the  Bible 
angels  and  prophets  were  often  sent  with  glad  tidings  to 
women  that  were  without  children,  and  in  much  sorrow 
on  that  account.  And  it  has  been  asked  why  was  this, 
and  why  were  the  sons  thus  promised  so  distinguished, 
since  but  few  great  men  have  sons  equal  to  themselves  ? 
There  is  an  answer  to  all  the  points  of  this  inquiry  with- 
out impeaching  either  the  justice  or  goodness  of  God. 
The  inferiority  of  the  sons  of  great  men  may  be  owing 
to  the  weakness  of  the  mother,  or  to  the  neglect  of  their 
early  training.  It  is  well  known  that  some  distinguished 
men  have  married  women  not  at  all  their  equals,  nor  fit 
to  be  their  companions.  And  it  is  quite  as  well  known, 
that  great  men  are  so  occupied  with  public  cares  or  so 
diligently  employed  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  that 
their  own  children  are  often  neglected.  The  main  point 
in  hand  here,  however,  is  the  illustration  that  God's  gra- 
cious deliverances  are  always  opportunely  sent.  I  am 
aware  that  various  conjectures  have  been  made  to  satisfy 
the  rather  over  curious,  if  not  profane  infidel  question — 
Why  did  the  angel  appear  to  the  wife  rather  than  to  the 
husband  ?  No  reason  is  stated.  Nor  do  I  see  that  we 
are  under  any  obligations  to  vindicate  our  narrative  for 
this  omission.  The  fact  of  the  angel's  appearance  is 
recorded.  But  we  do  not  know  whether  he  was  sent  to 
the  woman-wife,  because  it  was  her  reproach  rather 
than  her  husband's  that  she  was  not  fruitful — or  whether 
it  was  because  she  was  to  endure  the  pain  of  parturition  ; 


90  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

or  because  she  took  the  matter  more  to  heart  than  her 
husband  did.  If  we  must  find  a  reason,  the  last  is  most 
to  our  mind.  For  it  is  always  true,  that  God's  mercies 
are  well-timed  and  properly  directed.  The  history  of  the 
pious  proves  conclusively,  that  if  Satan  ply  his  heavy 
batteries  upon  the  weakest,  God  does  not  fail  to  address 
consolation  to  those  that  are  most  in  need.  The  promises 
of  God  are  like  a  certain  kind  of  bridge  ;  the  more  heavy 
the  pressure  upon  them,  the  stronger  they  are.  The 
believer  is  fortified  abundantly  with  exceeding  great  and 
precious  promises.  Eve  was  the  most  dejected  ;  to  her 
therefore  was  the  promise  especially  addressed.  It  is 
not  said,  Adam's  seed  ;  but  the  seed  of  the  woman  shall 
bruise  the  serpent's  head.  Manoah's  wife  is  the  most 
troubled,  to  her  therefore  is  the  divine  messenger  sent ; 
and  sent  to  her  first,  because  the  announcement  to  a  bar- 
ren woman  of  the  birth  of  a  distinguished  son,  would 
impress  her  and  her  husband  and  countrymen  with  the 
idea  that  such  a  son  was  from  the  Lord,  and  designed 
by  him  to  be  a  special  blessing.  All  children  are  divine 
gifts.  They  are  God's  heritage.  They  come  only  at 
his  bidding.  But  when  some  special  mission  was  designed, 
it  was  proper  to  give  distinction  to  the  appointment. 

Secondly.  A  son  given  under  such  solemn  promises 
and  instruction  would  be  better  taken  care  of.  A  gift 
thus  made  would  be  more  highly  valued.  The  education 
of  children  is  a  fearful  responsibility.  And  even  the 
best  mothers  need  divine  help  and  admonitions.  In  the 
East  it  is  still  considered  a  disgrace  and  a  mark  of  divine 
displeasure,  to  have  a  childless  house.  Among  the 
ancient  Hebrews  the  desire  for  children  was  rendered 
even  more  intense  than  among  other  nations,  because  of 


THE    GOOD    WIFE.  91 

the  promises.  Every  Hebrew  wife  seems  to  have  hoped 
she  would  be  the  mother  of  the  Messiah,  or  at  least  of 
his  progenitor.  Vows  and  prayers  and  expensive  cere- 
monies were  resorted  to  as  a  means  of  prevailing  upon 
God  to  give  them  children.  And  to  this  day,  in  the 
schools  of  the  East,  boys  may  be  seen  with  elf  locks, 
which  are  memorials  of  vows  to  God  for  favor  granted 
in  their  gift.  See  verses  six,  seven  and  eight.  Man  of 
God,  that  is,  a  holy  prophet.  Very  terrible,  that  is,  accord- 
ing to  Diodati,  "  majestical,  glorious  and  sparkling  with 
light."  The  woman  seems  to  say,  his  countenance  was 
so  like  that  of  an  angel  of  God  —  so  commanding,  so 
awful,  and  inspired  me  with  such  awe,  that  I  feared  to 
ask  him  any  questions. 

"  Samson  had  not  a  better  mother  than  Manoah  had  a 
wife."  As  a  good  wife,  she  at  once  told  her  husband  of 
God's  messenger.  And  Manoah  at  once  applies  at 
head-quarters.  He  goes  immediately  to  prayer,  saying, 
"  0  my  Lord,  I  pray  thee,  let  that  man  of  God  my  wife 
speaks  of  come  again,  and  tell  us  fully  how  we  are  to 
bring  up  the  child."  He  had  not  seen  God's  messenger. 
He  has  yet  but  a  meagre  account  of  the  interview ;  but 
his  faith  takes  hold  of  the  promise,  nothing  doubting. 

Josephus  thinks,  but  without  authority,  that  Manoah's 
mind  was  disturbed  by  what  his  wife  had  said  of  the 
man  of  God,  and  that  he  wished  to  have  some  further 
knowledge  of  this  strange  visitor.  There  is  not  a  sylla- 
ble, however,  to  warrant  any  such  jealous  suspicion. 
On  the  contrary,  his  desire  was  to  obtain  information  as 
to  the  bringing  up  of  the  child.  His  wife  in  all  things 
seems  to  have  been  dutiful,  confiding  and  affectionate. 
She  reports  at  once,  as  a  good  wife  should  have  done, 


92  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

the  angelic  message  to  her  husband  —  doubtless  because 
she  wished  him  to  share  in  the  joy  of  such  a  promise, 
and  desired  his  help  to  keep  all  the  admonitions  given 
to  her.  She  seems  to  have  been  so  overjoyed  at  the 
announcement  that  she  was  to  have  a  son,  that  she  ran 
away  from  the  man  of  God,  hastening  home  from  the 
field,  without  asking  him  how  she  was  to  bring  up  a 
child  to  whom  so  important  a  mission  was  committed. 

And  surely  Manoali's  solicitude  to  have  more  full 
instruction  from  the  angel  was  well.  For  the  care  of 
children  is  a  very  great  concern.  Happy  would  it  be 
for  us  as  a  people,  if  all  our  parents,  like  this  pious 
Danite,  ofiener  prayed :  "  Teach  me  what  wre  shall  do 
to  the  child  that  shall  be  born  to  us." 

From  Manoah  and  his  wife  let  us  learn  the  duty  and 
privilege  of  dedicating  our  little  ones  to  God.  He  has 
a  property  in  us  and  our  households  that  cannot  be 
destroyed.  Nor  does  he  ever  relinquish  or  alienate  his 
rights  to  our  children.  It  is  therefore  our  duty  to 
acknowledge  him  in  our  families,  and  to  dedicate  to 
him  the  children  he  has  given  us.  This  dedication  is  a 
solemn  covenant,  as  well  as  a  sacrament.  In  it  God 

* 

says  to  us  :  Take  these  little  ones  and  briny  them  up  for 
me,  and  1  will  give  thee  tliy  wages.  And  we  answer, 
Lord,  we  dedicate  them  to  thee,  imploring  thy  blessing 
to  rest  upon  them. 

I.  The.  care  of  children  should  begin  before  they  are 
born --even  before  they  are  conceived.  A  celebrated 
physician  says  :  "  The  first  duty  parents  owe  to  their 
children  is,  to  convey  health  and  strength,  a  good  con- 
stitution of  body  and  mind  to  them,  as  far  as  it  is  in 
their  power ;  by  a  proper  care  of  their  own  health,  and 


CARE    FOR    CHILDREN    BEFORE    BIRTH.  93 

a  conscientious  abstinence  from  vice  and  excess  of  every 
kind."  The  ancient  Romans  were  extremely  careful  as 
to  the  health  and  condition  of  mothers.  If  ignorance 
as  to  the  effect  of  a  mother's  health  and  state  of  mind 
on  the  constitution  of  her  child  could  ever  be  plead  as 
an  excuse  for  entailing  a  host  of  ailments  upon  her  pos- 
terity, it  surely  cannot  now  be  offered  ;  for  by  means  of 
the  press  and  of  public  lecturing,  the  whole  subject  has 
been  popularized — perhaps  too  much  so.  At  least,  igno- 
rance is  no  longer  an  excuse.  And  if  the  laws  of  nature 
on  this  subject  are  well  understood  in  their  application 
to  the  lower  animals,  why  should  they  be  neglected  or 
despised  in  man  ?  Health  of  mind  and  body  should  be 
a  prerequisite  of  marriage.  And  the  most  enlightened 
attention  should  be  bestowed  on  women  during  their 
child-bearing.  This  subject  deserves  the  most  serious 
consideration  from  patriots,  philanthropists  and  chris- 
tians.  The  civil,  intellectual  and  moral  well-being  of 
our  nation  is  and  will  be  greatly  affected  by  a  proper 
regard  to  it.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  doubt,  or  a  point  yet 
to  be  discussed.  It  is  already  demonstrated  that  many 
diseases,  tempers,  dispositions  and  habits  are  hereditary. 
"  Many  of  the  ill  habits  of  body  that  children  bring 
into  the  world  with  them  are  owing  to  the  irregularities 
of  their  mothers  ;  (and  of  their  fathers)  and  most  of  the 
diseases  of  which  so  many  young  children  die,  arise 
from  a  bad  mass  of  blood  communicated  to  them." 
"  Women  with  child  ought  conscientiously  to  avoid  what- 
ever they  have  reason  to  think  will  be  any  way  preju- 
dicial to  the  health  or  good  constitution  of  the  fruit  of 
their  life." — Henry. 

II.  The  proper  idea  of  educating  children  is  to  fit 


94  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

them  for  the  duties  of  life  and  the  realities  of  a  fast- 
coming  eternity.  To  do  this  they  must  be  trained. 
Training  combines,  first,  both  instruction  and  govern- 
ment. Its  •  field  is  both  the  mind  and  the  body.  It 
reduces  to  life  the  precepts  which  are  to  regulate  them 
when  they  are  grown.  To  train  a  child  properly,  is  to 
form  it  again  into  the  image  in  which  man  was  created. 
It  is  to  recover  it  from  the  ruins  of  the  fall.  This  can- 
not be  done  at  once.  But  it  can  be  begun,  and  the 
completion  will  follow  in  heaven.  To  train  a  child 
requires  patience,  faith,  courage,  perseverance  and  divine 
assistance. 

Secondly.  To  bring  up  a  child  in  "  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord,"  instruction  and  example  are 
essential.  It  is  the  nature  of  a  child  to  imitate  what  is 
around  it.  The  influence  of  example  is  as  certain  as 
the  action  of  the  air  upon  its  body.  Influences  educate 
the  child  long  before  it  is  large  enough  to  be  sent  from 
home  to  school.  It  is  in  the  unwritten,  unspoken  teach- 
ings of  HOME  in  our  tenderest  years  that  our  destiny 
has  its  beginnings.  Every  word,  tone,  look,  frown,  smile 
and  tear,  witnessed  in  childhood,  performs  its  part  in 
training  the  infant  for  eternity.  Instruction  should 
begin  early,  but  let  it  be  oral,  and  consist  chiefly  of  a 
few  moral  precepts,  Bible  stories  and  chaste  fables.  A 
great  error  in  our  times  is  the  pressing  of  the  infantile 
mind ;  cramming  the  memory  with  what  the  child  does 
not  understand,  and  at  the  same  time  so  conferring  and 
cramming  it  as  to  prevent  the  proper  physical  develop- 
ment, and  impair  the  reasoning  faculties.  Another  of 
the  alarming  evils  of  our  day  is  the  circulation  of  de- 
moralizing publications.  Earnest  warning  and  entrea- 


DANGERS    OF    BAD    BOOKS.  95 

ties  on  this  subject  have  often  fallen  from  this  pulpit. 
But  the  warning  cannot  be  too  often  repeated.  The 
influence  of  immoral  prints  and  books  is  calculated  more 
than  anything  else  to  corrupt  the  morals  and  enfeeble 
the  intellects  of  the  juvenile  portion  of  our  country. 
To  circulate  such  publications  is  a  serious  offense  against 
God  and  man  ;  and  yet  I  greatly  fear  it  is  a  growing 
evil ;  nor  do  I  see  any  corrective  so  available,  so  poten- 
tial and  so  practicable,  as  family  government  and  in- 
struction. LET  THE  HOME  BE  FOR  AMUSEMENT,  PLEA- 
SURE, KNOWLEDGE  AND  RELIGION  AS  ATTRACTIVE  AS 
POSSIBLE. 

Thirdly.  In  the  bringing  up  of  children,  prayer,  deep, 
earnest,  believing  prayer  is  essential.  The  preservation 
of  children  is  a  constant  miracle.  After  all  our  solicitude 
and  pains-taking,  and  watching  and  heart  bleeding,  we 
have  to  trust  them  to  God.  We  are  shut  up  to  wrestling 
with  God,  as  the  last  resort  saying,  peradventure  they 
may  live,  or  as  Abraham  himself,  0  that  Ishmael  might 
live.  Parental  solicitude  is  not  only  justified,  but 
expressly  enjoined  in  God's  word.  The  apostle  speaks 
of  it,  as  a  great  commendation  of  Timothy  and  of  his 
mother  and  grandmother,  that  from  his  infancy  he  had 
been  made  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures,  which  were 
able  to  make  him  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Train  up  a  child,  says  Solomon,  in  the 
way  in  which  he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  old,  he  will 
not  depart  from  it. 

He  is  not  prepared  to  discharge  his  duties  to  himself, 
his  country  and  his  God,  as  a  parent,  who  does  not  see 
audfeel  that  the  art  of  education  is  both  the  most  impor- 
tant and  difficult  in  the  world.  It  has  been  so  considered 


96  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

by  many  of  the  greatest  men  that  have  ever  lived.  Many 
of  the  greatest  minds  and  largest  hearts  have  spent  their 
wisdom  and  strength  in  advancing  the  education  of  man- 
kind in  morals  and  religion. 

Fourthly.  By  Manoah's  example,  we  are  taught  where 
to  obtain  aid  and  direction  in  bringing  up  our  children. 
As  soon  as  he  is  informed  that  he  is  to  have  a  son,  he 
falls  to  praying  that  he  may  know  how  to  order  the 
child — to  know  what  he  should  do  unto  him.  Verses  eight 
and  twelve.  "  When  I  see  the  strength  of  Manoah's 
faith,  I  marvel  not  that  he  had  a  Samson  to  his  son  ;  he 
saw  not  the  messenger,  he  heard  not  the  errand,  he  exam- 
ined not  the  circumstances ;  yet  now  he  takes  thought, 
not  whether  he  should  have  a  son,  but  how  he  shall  order 
the  son  which  he  must  have." — Hall. 

It  is  true  that  we  are  eminently  blessed  with  elemen- 
tary school  books,  and  the  schools  of  our  country,  espec- 
ially for  young  children  and  the  acquirement  of  a  practical 
education,  are  not  surpassed  by  those  of  any  other  nation. 
But  it  deserves  to  be  always  kept  in  mind,  that  in  educa- 
ting there  is  no  book  that  can  take  the  place  of  the  word 
of  God,  and  no  means  that  can  be  made  a  substitute  for 
prayer.  It  is  the  great  business  of  a  parent  to  secure  a 
sound  mind  in  a  sound  body  for  his  child,  and  then  to 
baptize  him  day  by  day  with  heavenly  influences  in 
answer  to  prayer.  And  surely  it  is  of  such  children  we 
may  hope,  as  patriots  and  as  followers  of  Christ,  that 
they  will  be  deliverers  of  Israel.  The  age  of  miracles  is 
past.  We  have  no  right  to  expect  angels  to  tell  us 
what  to  do  unto  our  children.  We  have  a  more  sure 
word  of  prophecy  (instruction).  The  divine  word  is 
ever  speaking  to  us,  saying  this  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in 


ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAY.  97 

it.  Conscience,  enlightened  by  the  divine  word  and 
spirit,  is  also  constantly  teaching  us  the  way  in  which  we 
should  go.  The  Bible  direction  is  to  acknowledge  God 
in  all  our  ways  and  he  will  direct  our  steps.  Manoah's 
mind  was  aroused  by  his  wife's  tidings ;  and  his  faith 
was  at  once  strong ;  and  being  all  the  more  encouraged 
by  the  favors  already  given,  he  prayed  to  God  to  teach 
him  more  fully  what  he  was  to  do.  And  though  secret 
things  belong  to  God,  revealed  things  belong  to  us  and 
to  our  children.  And  whenever  the  soul  bows  down 
before  the  Father  of  spirits  earnestly  seeking  to  know  his 
will,  in  some  way  or  other,  he  will  teach  us  his  paths 
Psalm  xxv :  8. 


"  Thus  at  the  flaming  forge  of  life 

Our  fortunes  must  be  wrought, 
Thus  on  its  sounding  anvil  shaped 
Each  burning  deed  and  thought." 


E 


s  m 


CHAPTER  V 


JESUS  CHRIST  IN  THE  THEOPHANIES  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 


Appeared  before  mine  eyes 


A  man  of  God :  his  habit  and  his  guise 
Were  such  as  holy  prophets  used  to  -wear; 
But  in  his  dreadful  looks  there  did  appear 
Something  that  made  me  tremble ;   in  his  eye 
Mildness  was  mixt  with  awful  majesty." 

Quarles'  Samson. 

Testamentum  Vetus  de  Christo  exhibendo,  Xovum  de  Christo  exhibito  agit : 
Novum  in  veteri  latet,  Vetus  in  novo  patet. — Augustine. 

"  Scriptura  omnis  in  duo  Testamenta  divisa  est  *  *  Jud»3i  Veteri 
utuntur,  nos  Novo :  sed  tamen  diversa  non  sunt,  quia  Novum  Veteris  adim- 
pletio  est,  et  in  utroque  idem  Testator  est  Cliristus." 

Lactantius,  Div.  Inst.  iv:  20. 

IN  verses  eight  and  twenty-one,  inclusive,  of  the  thir- 
teenth chapter,  we  have  a  more  detailed  account  of  the 
appearance  of  the  angel  of  the  LORD,  than  is  to  be  found 
in  any  other  part  of  the  Bible.  For  this  reason  as  well 
as  on  account  of  the  great  intrinsic  merit  of  the  sub- 
ject, the  narrative  of  Samson  is  suspended  till  the  next 
chapter. 

Angel  is  rather  a  term  of  office  than  of  nature.  This 
term  is  used  in  the  Bible  to  denote  a  messenger  both 
human  and  spiritual,  and  also  impersonal  agents,  as 
winds,  fires,  remarkable  dispensations,  &c.  It  seems  to 


102  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

denote  any  vehicle  or  medium  by  which  the  Creator 
made  known  his  presence  or  executed  his  will.  There 
are  evil  as  well  as  good  angels,  and  sometimes  it  is 
thought,  angel  of  the  LORD  means  a  personification  of 
divine  judgments.  (See  Bush's  notes  on  Gen.  xvi :  7  ; 
xxiv  :  7  ;  and  Ex.  iii :  2.)  The  most  frequent  applica- 
tion of  this  term  is  undoubtedly  to  the  special  manifesta- 
tion of  the  Lord  to  the  patriarchs  and  prophets.  THE 
SHEKINAH  is  called  the  angel  of  the  Lord.  Ex.  xiv : 
19.  But  in  all  such  visible  symbols  of  the  divine  glory, 
JEHOVAH  himself,  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob, 
the  very  same  that  appeared  in  the  bush,  and  by  whose 
good  will  Joseph  was  preserved,  is  to  be  considered  as 
present.  "  The  angel  of  the  LORD"  is  literally  the 
Angel-Jehovah,  or  Jehovah,  the  Sent  One,  and  is  none 
other  than  God  manifest,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  the 
Bible,  GOD  the  Father  is  never  spoken  of  as  SENT,  but 
the  Messiah  is  so  represented  in  the  Old  Testament,  and 
Christ  is  so  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament,  and  actually 
claims  himself  to  have  come  from  and  to  be  sent  by  the 
Father.  In  finding  therefore  that  the  angel  of  the  LORD 
is  Jehovah,  God,  the  Lord  himself,  we  shall  establish 
our  proposition  ;  that  in  the  THEOPHANIES  OF  THE  OLD 
TESTAMENT  AVE  HAVE  JESUS  CHRIST  MANIFESTED  AS 
GOD. 

And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  came  again,  (verse  nine). 
This  is  the  same  angel  that  appeared  lirst  to  the  woman, 
and  the  same  that  appeared  to  Abraham,  Lot,  Moses 
Joshua,  Gideon  and  others,  and  is  the  Messiah-Christ. 
In  the  eighteenth  verse,  "  the  angel  of  the  LORD  said 
unto  him,  Why  askcst  them  thus  after  my  name,  seeing 
it  is  secret."  Here  the  Hebrew  word  for  secret  is  the 


THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  PATRIARCHS.       103 

same  that  Isaiah  uses  for  wonderful.  Isa.  ix  :  6.  "  And 
his  name  shall  he  called  WONDERFUL."  Hence  it  is 
concluded,  that  the  true  meaning  of  the  clause,  seeing  it  is 
secret,  is,  it  is  ivonderful.  The  angel  then  means  to  say 
that,  his  name  WONDERFUL,  signified  that  he  was  the 
promised  Messiah. 

In  Genesis  xxii:  11,  the  same  appellation  is  used. 
"  And  the  angel  of  the  LORD  called  unto  him  out  of 
heaven,  and  said,  Abraham,  Abraham,"  and  yet  in  the 
first  verse  of  the  same  chapter  it  is  said  that  it  was  GOD 
who  tempted  Abraham,  and  commanded  him  to  sacrifice 
his  son.  See  also  verses  fourteen,  fifteen,  sixteen,  which 
clearly  identify  the  angel  of  Jehovah  and  God  as  one 
and  the  same.  And  in  Gen.  xxiv :  7,  the  angel  of  the 
Lord  is  identified  with  God  himself.  The  same  thing 
is  clear  from  Ex.  iii :  2,  6,  10,  14;  Numb,  xx  :  22; 
Judges  ii:  5;  and  vi :  11-40;  2  Samuel  xxiv:  16; 
2  Kings  xix:  35  ;  1  Chron.  xxi :  12. 

Now  these  Scriptures  taken  together  prove  in  the  FIRST 
place,  that  Hagar,  Abraham  and  Moses,  believed  God 
to  be  invisible,  and  yet  that  they  had  certain  direct  com- 
munications from  him.  There  was  either  a  shape  or 
voice,  or  both  —  or  some  representation  of  God  made  to 
them  visibly  —  some  divine  manifestation  that  came  in 
some  way  within  the  reach  of  their  senses  ;  and  this 
representation  was  called  the  "  Angel  of  Jehovah,"  "  the 
angel  of  his  presence,"  and  was  identified  with  Jehovah 
himself — received  the  worship  and  acknowledged  the 
attributes  and  performed  the  same  works  which  the 
Scriptures  ascribe  to  God. 

The  INVISIBILITY  as  well  as  the  SPIRITUALITY  of  the 
supreme  being  is  explicitly  taught  in  the  Bible — in  both 


104  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments.  See  Ex.  xxxiii :  20  ; 
Jobix:  11;  John  i :  18,  and  verse  thirty-seven;  Rev. 
i :  20  ;  Col.  i :  15  ;  Heb.  xi :  27  ;  I  Tim.  vi :  16.  And 
yet  according  to  numerous  texts  of  Scripture,  God  has 
been  pleased  at  various  times  and  in  different  places,  to 
put  himself  in  communication  with  mankind.  He  has 
caused  his  voice  to  be  heard  and  his  shape  to  be  seen. 
In  Gen.  xvi :  7,  we  have  the  first  distinct  divine  mani- 
festation revealed  by  name.  Here  the  epithet  is  the  one 
so  often  used  in  the  Old  Testament — angel  of  the  LORD. 
And  it  is  evident  from  the  text  that  Hagar  understood 
the  angel  of  Jehovah  to  be  Jehovah  himself.  For  she 

^^ 

called  the  name  of  the  Jehovah  that  spake  unto  her,  thou 
God  of  visibility*  These  manifestations  of  God  were 
made  in  a  way  suitable  to  the  senses  and  capacities  of 
man.  The  divine  glory  was  of  necessity  veiled.  And 
hence  the  manifestation  was  called  "  the  angel  of  God's 
presence."  That  is,  his  messenger.  So  much  of  God- 
head was  manifested  as  the  creature  could  bear.  And 
by  this  method  of  revealing  himelf,  it  pleased  God  to 
keep  open  a  communication  with  our  race,  until  the  full- 
ness of  time  came,  when  he  actually  manifested  himself 
in  the  flesh.  By  these  divine  appearances  the  faith  of 
mankind  was  kept  alive,  that  in  due  time  the  promise 
should  be  fulfilled,  and  the  Word  should  become  flesh, 
and  the  SEED  of  the  woman  bruise  the  serpent's  head. 

And  in  the  SECOND  place,  the  appellation  "angel  of 
the  LORD,"  therefore,  in  the  Old  Testament  is  to  be  under- 


*Boothroyd,  Le  Clcrc,  Houbigant,  Michaelis,  say  this  is  ttu>  true  reading  of 
the  passage.  In  their  opinion  also,  the  name  of  the  veil  is  "  the  well  of  the 
invisible  God."  The  Targum  of  Jonathan,  the  Greek,  Arabic,  Chaldee  and 
Syriac  have  it  thus. 


THE    ANGEL    IS    THE    MESSIAH.  105 

stood  as  meaning  the  Messiah.  Such  divine  appearances 
were  manifestly  pledges  of  God's  continued  good  will  to 
men.  They  were  evidences  of  his  repeated  gracious 
interpositions.  They  were  types  of  the  coming  incarna- 
tion. In  the  form  of  "  a  man  of  God,"  or  of  an  angel, 

o       " 

it  was  Jesus  Christ,  that  appeared  to  the  patriarchs,  as 
a  pledge  of  his  future  coming  into  the  world  as  the  long 
promised  Messiah.  The  angel  that  redeemed  Jacob  from 
all  evil,  he  represents  as  identical  with  the  God  before 
whom  his  fathers  had  walked,  and  who  had  fed  him  all 
his  life  long.  And  he  also  makes  his  vows  to  this  angel 
as  the  God  of  Bethel  and  the  same  who  spoke  to  him 
in  Padan-aram.  And  Hosea  speaking  of  this  angel  of 
Jacob,  identifies  him  with  Jehovah.  See  Gen.  xlviii : 
15, 16  ;  and  xxxi :  11—13.  Jacob's  language  is  remark- 
able :  "  The  angel  which  redeemed  me  from  all  evil,'' 
by  which  he  does  not  mean  a  creature, — does  not  mean 
another  and  a  different  being  from  the  God  of  his  fathers, 
but  an  expletive  of  the  name  GOD.  Is  it  scriptural 
usage  then  for  God  to  be  called  by  the  name,  Angel  ?  In 
Jacob's  earlier  life,  we  have  an  instance.  He  wrestled 
with  an  angel  at  the  ford  Jabbok  till  the  breaking  of  day, 
and  yet  he  says  speaking  of  this  angel  at  Peniel,  "  I 
have  seen  God  face  to  face."  In  the  divine  revelation  to 
Abraham  of  the  doom  of  the  cities  of  the  plain,  Jehovah 
himself,  or  God  the  Son,  is  clearly  to  be  recognized  in 
one  of  the  angels.  In  the  third  chapter  of  Exodus,  we 
have  one  of  the  most  illustrious  recorded  appearances  of 
the  angel  of  the  LORD  to  be  found  in  the  Bible.  Here 
the  angel  of  the  LORD  and  God,  and  Jehovah  are  inter- 
changeable. In  the  second  verse  he  who  is  called  the 
anc/el  of  the  LORD  (JEHOVAH)  appears  in  the  bush,  and 


E* 


106  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

in  the  fourth  verse  he  is  called  LORD   (JEHOVAH)  and 
GOD.     And  in  the  sixth  verse,  the  same  ANGEL-JEHO- 
VAH who  appears  in  the  bush  and  is  called  LORD  and 
GOD,  speaking  of  himself  says  :  "  I  am  the  God  of  thy 
father,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the 
God  of  Jacob.     And  Moses  hid  his  face  ;  for  he  was 
afraid  to  look  upon  God."     And  in  verses  eleven  and 
twelve,  Moses  said  unto  God,  addressing  the  angel  of  the 
LORD,  of  the  first  verse,  who  was  in  the  bush,  and  in  the 
fourteenth  verse — "  God  said  unto  Moses,  I  AM  THAT  I 
AM  ;  and  he  said,  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children 
of  Israel,  I  AM  hath  sent  me  unto  you."     And  in  the 
next  verse  repeats  that  he  is  the  LORD  GOD  of  their 
fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob.    Through- 
out the  whole  narrative  and  dialogue  of  Moses'  call  and 
inauguration  into  office  as  deliverer  of  Israel,  the  angel 
of  the  LORD  is  JEHOVAH,  and  in  this  appearance  of  the 
LORD  GOD,  we  recognize  no  other  personage  than  the 
angel  of  the  Covenant,  the  angel  of  Jehovah's  presence, 
who   is   MESSIAH-CHRIST.     The   Angel-Jehovah,   who 
dwelt  in  the   glory-cloud,  and  who   pledged  himself  to 
conduct  the  Hebrews  to  the  land  of  promise,  the  apostle 
tells  us  expressly  was  Christ.     1  Cor.  x :  9.     We  have 
seen  that  the  angel  professes  in  the  eighteenth  verse  that 
his  name  is  the  same,  that  we  find  Isaiah  applying  to  the 
Messiah  in  ix  :  6.     And  again  in  Isa.  xlii :  19,  the  same 
term --angel --that  is  used  in  the  text  is  given  to  the 
Messiah,  who  is  nh  o  called  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant. 
See  Mai.  iii :  1  ;  Matt,  xii :   18-21.     Compare  also  Isa. 
Ix :   1  ;  Heb.  ii :   14;  and  Isa.  xl :  .'5. 

There  is  a  gradual  development  of  truth  as  taught 
in  the  Bible.     The  existence  of  (lod  i,^  assumed.     His 


GOD    INVISIBLE    REVEALED.  107 

unity  and  spirituality  are  then  taught.  His  invisibility 
and  yet  palpable  manifestations  are  asserted.  Repeated, 
proofs  are  given  that  Jehovah  was  not  the  mere  tutelar 
God  of  the  Hebrews.  This  was  one  of  the  great  truths 
demonstrated  by  the  awful  controversy  between  Moses 
and  Pharoah,  which  was  indeed  a  conflict  between  Jeho- 
vah's prime  minister  and  the  gods  of  Egypt.  No  intelli- 
gent and  attentive  reader  of  the  Bible  can  fail  to  discern 
that  a  distinction  is  made  between  Jehovah  as  invisible 
and  Jehovah  as  manifested  to  men.  In  many  parts  of 
the  Old  Testament  we  find  an  exalted  being,  introduced 
as  "  the  angel,  servant,  or  messenger  of  Jehovah,"  who 
speaks  of  himself  as  distinct  from  the  invisible  and  eter- 
nal Jehovah,  and  yet  assumes  to  himself  the  honors, 
attributes  and  works  of  Jehovah,  and  suffers  himself  to 
be  addressed  as  God.  Now  how  are  we  to  understand 
these  passages  in  which  "  the  angel  of  God "  is  thus 
introduced  ? 

1.  Herder   (Geist.  Hebr.  Poesie   ii :  47)   says  this 
phrase  is  a  mere  figurative  mode  of  announcing  some 
great  phenomenon.     In  our  humble  judgment  this  is  so 
contrary  to  common  sense,  and  is  so  entirely  foreign  to 
the   plain  meaning  of  the  texts,  that  no   refutation  is 
required. 

2.  Some  tell  us  this  angel  of  the  Lord  was  a  mere 
created  angel,  who  spoke  in  the  name  of  Jehovah.     This 
is  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  fathers,  as  Origen  and 
Jerome,  and  of  Le  Clerc  and  Grotius  and  of  Socinian, 
Unitarian  and  Neological  writers.     But  as  Hengstenberg 
has  most  judiciously  said,  quite  a  satisfactory  reason  can 
be  found  for  this  singular  confluence  of  opinion,  in  adopt- 
ing this  interpretation,  for  each  one  though  differing  on 


108  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

almost  every  other  point,  thought  that  such  an  interpre- 
tation was  favorable  to  his  system  of  theological  opinions, 
and  was  therefore  at  all  hazards  to  be  received  as  true. 
We  have  serious  objections  to  this  interpretation,  and 
regard  it  as  incorrect.  First.  Because  the  idiom  of  the 

O 

Hebrew  limits  the  phrase  to  one  angel.  Literally  the 
phrase  is,  "  the  angel  of  JEHOVAH."  This  cannot  be 
fairly  an  appellation  of  created  angels.  Secondly.  The 
Bible  does  not  teach  that  any  creature,  however  high,  or 
under  any  circumstances,  should  personate  the  Creator. 
Thirdly.  In  several  of  the  passages  referred  to,  we  have 
found  that  "  the  angel  of  JEHOVAH  "  is  called  GOD,  and 
JEHOVAH.  Even  Gesenius  admits  both  in  his  Thesaurus 
and  in  the  last  edition  of  his  Lexicon,  that  "  the  angel  of 
Jehovah  "  is  identified  with  Jehovah  himself.  "  Some- 
times the  same  divine  appearance  which  at  one  time  is 
called  the  angel  of  Jehovah  is  afterwards  called  simply 
Jehovah." 

3.  We  know  that  Sack,  De  Wette  and  others  of  a 
like  theological  complexion,  advocate  the  opinion,  that 
"  the  angel  of  Jehovah ':  is  simply  a  periphrasis  for 
Jehovah  himself,  and  that  the  phrase  should  be  rendered, 
not  the  angel  or  messenger,  but  the  appearance  of  Jeho- 
vah. We  would  urge  as  objections  to  this  interpretation : 

First.  It  is  by  no  means  proved,  that  the  true  mean- 
ing of  the  word  t/Ktleak,  is  sending  or  appearance,  while 
it  is  not  denied  but  that  it  docs  signify  messenger,  angel. 

Secondly.  This  interpretation  destroys  all  significance 
in  the  evident  diversities  of  (lie  Theophanies,  which  seem 
to  us  to  have  been  made  with  the  direct  intention  of 
proving  in  the  midst  of  an  idolatrous  age  and  in  the  face 
of  polytheism,  the  essential  unity  and  spirituality  of  God. 


DIVINITY    IN    THE    TIIEOPHANIES.  109 

and  yet  the  equality  and  identity  of  "  the  angel  of  Jeho- 
vah "  with  Jehovah  himself. 

Thirdly.  This  view  of  the  phrase  does  not  aid  us  to 
any  intelligent  view  of  the  distinct  personalities  that 
appear  in  the  narratives  of  the  Theophanies,  nor  to  the 
apprehension  of  the  use  of  the  plural  form  in  the  name 
of  God. 

Again,  in  the  creation,  and  the  distinct  personalities 
found  in  the  narratives  of  the  Theophanies,  and  in  the 
use  of  the  phrase  "  spirit  of  God,  or  of  the  Lord,"  so 
often  found  in  the  Bible,  it  seems  to  us  great  violence 
is  done  to  the  idiom  and  grammatical  structure  of  the 
Hebrew  tongue,  to  say  that  we  have  only  a  periphrasis 
of  God  himself,  or  a  divine  attribute,  but  not  a  divine 
person.  Almost  all  commentators  agree  that  in  the 
second  verse  of  the  third  chapter  of  Zachariah,  the  incom- 
municable name  of  Jehovah  is  directly  given  to  the  angel 
of  Jehovah  spoken  of  in  the  first  verse.  Even  Maurer 
and  Hitzig  agree  to  this.  Rosenmuller's  interpretation, 
"  vocatur  legatus  de  nomine  principis  sui,"  is  directly 
contrary  to  scripture  usage,  and  may  well  be  styled  "  a 
pure  fiction." 

4.  The  true  interpretation  of  the  phrase,  "  angel  of 
the  LORD,"  and  the  only  one  that  reconciles  all  the  pas- 
sages in  which  it  occurs  and  the  allusions  made  to  it  in 
the  Bible,  is  this,  namely :  that  the  angel  of  Jehovah  in 
the  Old  Testament  is  Jesus  Christ,  who  as  Jehovah's 
servant,  messenger  or  angel,  was  manifested  before  the 
incarnation  as  a  proof  that  his  heart  was  on  his  great 
work  of  redeeming  men,  by  becoming  a  man,  and  a 
pledge  that  he  would  come  in  the  fullness  of  time,  and 
be  actually  born  of  a  woman,  made  under  the  law,  to 


110  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law.  (Gal.  iv:  4.) 
The  angel  of  the  Lord  then  in  the  Theophanies  of  the 
Old  Testament  was  the  Messiah  sent  from  God,  who 
was  the  WORD  that  was  God,  but  became  flesh  and 
dwelt  among  us,  full  of  grace  and  truth. 


From  heaven  he  came,  of  heaven  he  spoke, 
Dark  clouds  of  gloomy  ni^lit  he  broke, 
Unveiling  an  immortal  day. 


That  our  views  may  be  the  more  clearly  understood, 
we  repeat  and  sum  up  what  we  believe  the  Bible  teaches 
on  this  subject. 

I.  There  is  one,  only  living  and  true  God.     This  one 
supreme   and   only  living   and  true    God  is   alike  and 
equally  the  God  of  the  New  Testament  and  of  the  Old 
Testament.     The  religion  of  the  two  great  divisions  of 
the  Bible  is  one  religion.     The  Bible  is  not  a  heteroge- 
neous or  contradictory  mass  of  old  or  obsolete  writings, 
but  a  harmonious  and  organized  whole,  each  part  per- 
fect in  its  place  and  of  its  kind. 

II.  The  only  living  and  true  "  God  is  a  Spirit,  infinite, 
eternal,  unchangeable,  INVISIBLE."    He  has  condescend- 
ed, however,  in  times  past,  to  speak  to  the  fathers  by  the 
prophets,  and  by  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  apos- 
tles.    He  made  known  his  will  to  the  patriarchs,  pro- 
phets, and  apostles,  by  his  Spirit,  operating  directly  on 
their  minds,  by  dreams,  visions,  voices,  ecstacies,  sym- 
bolic acts,  appearances  or  manifestations  in  the  form  of 
an  angel,  or  by  some  representation  of  his  glory,  which 
is  called  in  the  Old  Te>la;nent,  Tin:  SIIEKINAII. 

III.  The  leading  idea  of  the  Revelation  of  God  in  the 
Old  Testament  was,  the  coining  of  the  Messiah.     Other 


THE    CENTER    OF    THE    BIBLE.  Ill 

oreat  truths  are  taught  or  illustrated,  but  they  are  all  in 

o  o  * 

order  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  fulfillment  of  this  prom- 
ise. And  the  substance  of  the  New  Testament  is  a 
record  of  Messiah's  coming,  and  therein  of  the  fulfillment 
of  the  old  Testament  Scriptures. 

The  great  design,  therefore,  of  the  Old  Testament  has 
been  accomplished.  The  Hebrew  dispensation,  with  the 
divine  oracles,  prepared  mankind,  both  negatively  and 
positively,  for  the  appearance  of  the  Messiah,  the  world- 
redeeming  God.  The  purpose  of  divine  revelation  is 
stated  in  the  first  promise  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  and  is 
prosecuted  through  the  whole  of  the  old  dispensation. 
The  testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  bond  of  union,  and  center 
in  which  all  the  Old  Testament  harmonizes.  Without 
this  purpose  in  view  the  Old  Testament  is  but  a  loose, 
scattered,  and  badly  arranged  heap  of  poetry,  history, 
morals,  and  memoirs.  But  with  such  a  purpose  revealed, 
and  running  through  all  its  history,  we  can  understand 
how  it  teaches,  typifies,  promises,  and  predicts  a  great 
salvation  through  the  Ineffable  Incarnation. 

The  whole  scope  and  end  of  prophecy  was  the  testi- 
mony of  JESUS.  The  entire  history  of  God's  revelation 
in  Old  Testament  times,  is  nothing  but  an  utterance  pro- 
phetic of  a  coining  Messiah.  "  And  upon  that  revelation 
of  facts,  and  prediction  by  facts,  is  grounded  that  series 
of  predictions  by  words,  which  God  has  been  pleased  to 
communicate  in  a  supernatural  manner,  by  his  special 
agents."*  "  In  the  historical,  the  didactic,  the  prophet- 
ical portions  of  the  New  Testament,  we  discern  the  Old 
Testament,  the  old  law,  living  again,  in  a  new  and  spir- 

*  Lee  on  Inspiration. 


112  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

itnal  life ;  not  embalmed  and  laid  with  reverential  care 
aside  in  the  grave,  but  arisen  from  the  dead,  and  alive 
forevermore,  like  its  own  divine  Founder." 

Stephen  and  John,  and  the  saints  in  glory,  are  then 
with  Moses  and  Elias,  as  the  apostles  were  with  them 
on  the  mount  of  transfiguration.  They  all  sing  alike 
the  song  of  Moses,  the  servant  of  God,  and  the  song  of 
the  Lamb. — Rev.  xv  :  o. 

The  Bible,  as  a  history,  testifies  of  Jesus.  And  the 
two  great  divisions  of  the  Bible,  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments, are  indissolubly  connected,  and  of  co-equal  au- 
thority. JESUS  CHRIST  is  the  central  point  to  which  all 
the  rays  of  revelation  converge,  and  from  which  they 
again  flow  by  the  ministrations  of  his  own  Eternal 
Spirit. 

An  able  author  of  one  of  the  Hulsean  lectures,  speak- 
ing of  the  past  development  of  the  Scriptures,  holds  the 
following  beautiful  language  :  "  This  treasure  of  divine 
truth,  once  given,  has  only  gradually  revealed  itself; 
how  the  history  of  the  church,  the  difficulties,  the  trials, 
the  struggles,  the  temptations  in  which  it  has  been  in- 
volved, have  interpreted  to  it  its  own  records.  *  * 
Now  there  was  much  written  for  it  there  as  with  sym- 
pathetic ink,  invisible  for  a  season,  yet  ready  to  flash 
out  in  lines  and  characters  of  light,  whenever  the  ap- 
pointed day  and  hour  had  arrived;  so  that  in  this  way 
the  Scripture  has  been  to  the  church  as  their  garments 
to  the  children  of  Israel,  which,  during  all  the  years  of 
their  pilgrimage  in  the  desert,  waxed  not  old;  yea,  ac- 
cording to  rabbinical  tradition,  kept  pace  and  measure 
with  their  bodies,  growing  \\\(\\  their  growth,  titling  the 
man  as  they  had  fitted  the  child,  ami  this,  until  the  forty 


SCRIPTURAL    DEVELOPMENT.  113 

years  of  their  sojourn  in  the  wilderness  had  expired.  Or 
to  use  another  comparison,  which  may  serve  to  illustrate 
our  meaning:  Holy  Scripture,  thus  progressively  un- 
folding what  it  contains,  might  be  likened  fitly  to  some 
magnificent  landscape,  on  which  the  sun  is  gradually 
rising,  and  ever  as  it  rises  is  bringing  out  one  headland 
into  light  and  prominence,  and  then  another ;  anon,  kind- 
ling the  glory-smitten  summit  of  some  far  mountain,  and 
presently  lighting  up  the  recesses  of  some  near  valley 
which  had  hitherto  abided  in  gloom ;  and  so,  traveling 
on,  till  nothing  remains  in  shadow,  no  crook  nor  corner 
hid  from  the  light  and  heat  of  it,  but  the  whole  prospect 
stands  out  in  the  clearness  and  splendor  of  the  highest 
noon. 

"  The  true  idea  of  scriptural  development  is  this,  that 
the  church,  informed  and  quickened  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  more  and  more  discovers  what  in  Holy  Scripture 
is  given  her ;  but  it  is  not  thus  that  she  unfolds  by  an 
independent  power  anything  further  therefrom.  She  has 
always  possessed  what  she  now  possesses  of  doctrine  and 
truth,  only  not  always  with  the  same  distinctness  of  con- 
sciousness. She  has  not  added  to  her  wealth,  but  she 
has  become  more  and  more  aware  of  that  wealth ;  her 
dowry  has  remained  always  the  same,  but  that  dowry 
was  so  rich,  and  so  rare,  that  only  little  by  little  she  has 
counted  over  and  taken  stock  and  inventory  of  her  jew- 
els. She  has  consolidated  her  doctrine,  compelled  thereto 
by  the  provocation  of  her  enemies,  or  induced  to  it  by 
the  growing  sense  of  her  needs.  She  has  brought  to- 
gether utterances  in  Holy  Writ,  and  those  which,  apart, 
were  comparatively  barren,  when  thus  married  —  when 
each  had  thus  found  its  complement  in  the  other — have 


114  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

been  fruitful  to  her.  Those  which,  apart,  meant  little 
to  her,  have  been  seen  to  mean  much  when  thus  brought 
together,  and  read  each  by  the  light  of  the  other.  In 
these  senses  she  has  enlarged  her  dominion,  her  dominion 
having  become  larger  to  her."* 

IV.  It  is  not  true,  then,  that  the  Almighty  has  al- 
lowed any  of  his  dispensations  to  prove  a  failure.  It 
is  not  true  that  the  religion  of  Eden  proving  a  failure, 
another  and  a  new  one  was  tried ;  and  then,  when  the 
patriarchal  faith  failed,  the  Creator  again  tried  to  meet 
the  wants  of  our  race,  by  patching  up  the  patriarchal 
religion  with  that  of  Moses ;  and  was  again  obliged  to 
add  the  teachings  of  the  prophets ;  and,  finally,  becom- 
ing tired  of  the  old  religion  altogether,  he  superseded  it 
by  introducing  Christianity.  This  is  as  false  as  it  is  blas- 
phemous. There  is  a  perfect  harmony  throughout  the 
Bible.  Augustin  has  well  said,  "  Deus  opera  mutat,  nee 
mutat  consilium."  (Conf.  i :  4.)  In  all  the  various 
modes  used  for  communicating  the  divine  will,  we  find 
but  one  and  the  same  religion — the  Pentateuch,  the  Pro- 
phets, the  Psalms,  the  Gospels,  and  the  Epistles  are 
given  to  us  by  one  and  the  same  Spirit  of  Inspiration. 
The  revelation  is  from  God,  and  the  record  of  that  re\  - 


*  See  Trench's  llulscan  Lecture  fur  18."):!. 

Lee  on  Inspiration  substantially  />,^-.<///i,  but  particularly  p.  113.  Mr.  Lee 
is  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  His  work,  however,  is  published  in  this  country 
by  ( 'artei-s,  of  New  York.  It  is  an  able,  learned,  and  earnest  work.  With  a 
little  more  arrangement  it  would  be  more  valuable.  Sabbath  Schoolteachers 
and  young  students  may  consult,  also,  with  threat  advantage  on  this  subject, 
JNIa^ec,  on  tin-  Atonement:  I  lenstenber-'s  < 'hrNtolo^y  ;  I.ittoifs  Hampton 
Lectures  for  185(5;  r.islmp  llurd  on  Prophecy;  ()\veii  on  tbe  Hebrews;  Dr.  J 
I've  Smith's  Test,  of  Ibe  Mes>iah;  Dr.  Wardla\\'s  Discourses  on  the  Socinian 
Controversy  ;  and  Dr.  W.  L.  Alexander's  Connection  oi  the  did  ami  New  Tes- 
tament. 


THE    OLD    TESTAMENT    NOT    OBSOLETE.  115 

elation  is  by  the  inspirititm  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
Bible  not  only  contains  the  Word  of  God,  but  the 
Bible  is  the  Word  of  God,  who  is  our  Maker  and  final 
Judge. 

Though  the  writers  of  the  Bible  are  scattered  over 
more  than  twenty  centuries,  its  several  books  are  but 
different  members  of  one  organized  whole,  and  each 
member  is  perfectly  adapted  to  the  great  purpose  of  the 
divine  Author,  and  pointing  all  the  time  to  him  as  the 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  through 
whom  we  have  received  the  atonement. 

It  certainly  cannot  follow  because,  as  Bretsclmeider* 
states,  and  truly,  that  the  doctrines  of  God  and  morality 
are  far  more  perfectly  taught  in  the  New  Testament,  by 
Jesus  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  than  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  that,  therefore,  the  old  Testament  is  obsolete. 
This  were  to  say  that  the  lad  were  lost  in  the  man.  The 
morning  and  the  evening  are  but  one  day.  But  the 
morning  twilight  is  in  order  to  the  noon-day  splendor. 
To  say  that  the  Old  Testament  is  superfluous,  and  of  no 
authority,  in  the  church  of  God,  because,  in  spirituality 
and  higher  morals,  it  has  been  surpassed  by  the  New 
Testament,  is  absurd.  A  boy's  grammar  was  just  the 
book  he  wanted  when  he  had  to  learn  the  elements  of 
language.  And  in  manhood  the  grammar  of  his  youth 
is  not  superfluous  or  lost  because  he  embodies  all  the 
knowledge  it  contained,  and  even  more.  The  elements 
of  language  are  not  superfluous  to  the  language  matured. 
If  the  promises,  types,  and  predictions  of  the  Old  Tes- 


*  Bretsclmeider  Ilaiidb.  der  Dog.,  i,  §  159,  quoted  by  Lee,  on  Inspiration,  p. 
100. 


116  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

tament  be  arranged,  therefore,  as  stars,  in  clusters  and 
constellations,  we  can  readily  see  how  one  arose  in  Eden, 
and  another  to  Enoch,  and  another  to  Noah  after  the 
flood,  and  another  to  Abraham,  and  another  and  another, 
till  the  whole  heavens  became  luminous,  when  the  star 
in  the  East  guided  the  wise  men  to  the  infant  Redeemer 
at  Bethlehem. 

V.  We  are  now  prepared,  I  trust,  to  say  that  "  the 
Angel  of  the  Lord,"  the  Angel  of  Jehovah's  presence, 
and  the  divine  manifestations  made  in  the  Old  Testament 
were  foreshadow  ings  of  the  great  Incarnation.    In  them 
the  Son  of  God  declared  that  his  delights  were  with  the 
sons  of  men  from  all  eternity,  and  was  manifesting  forth 
his  glory  in  such  measure  as  was  proper  to  keep  alive 
the  promise  of  his  coming,  when  the  fullness  of  time 
should  arrive.    And  in  the  application  of  the  appellation 
Angel  of  Jehovah  to  the  Messiah,  we  have  a  proof  of  the 
divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  No  man  hath  seen   God  at  any  time  ;  the  only  be- 
gotten Son,  which  is  the  bosom  of  the  Father  ;  he  hath 
declared  him."     "  He  is  God  manifest  in  the  flesh."- 
John  i :  18  ;   1  Tim.  iii :  1G. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  without  reason  that  the  learned 
are  of  the  opinion  that  this  ninth  verse  is  of  peculiar  con- 
struction and  emphasis,  meaning  that  it  was  the  Lord 
God  himself  to  whom  Manaoh  prayed,  who  hearkened 
to  his  voice,  and  then  appeared  to  him  and  his  wife,  and 
that  he  appeared  to  them  in  the  person  of  his  Son, 
veiled  as  an  angd. 

VI.  In  all  the  viiriclic-  of  iniumer  in  which,  in  times 
past,    God   spake   unto  the   fathers,   THE   LOGOS,  THE 
WORD,  of  John  i,  was  the  EEVEALER.    This  is  emphat- 


WHO    IS    THIS    ANGEL?  117 

ically  true  of  the  revelations  made  by  the  Angel- Jeho- 
vah. In  the  revelation  of  the  divine  will  "  by  facts,  by 
words"  and  by  appearances,  or  visible  forms  of  the  divine 
glory,  of  which  record  is  made  in  the  Old  Testament, 
there  is  a  constant  reference  to  the  Author  of  Creation, 
implying  by  such  a  reference  the  right  and  power  to 
make  all  such  revelations;  but  the  most  remarkable 
manifestation  of  THE  LOGOS,  "  the  Word,"  in  the  Old 
Testament,  if  I  am  not  greatly  mistaken,  is  this  of  the 
ANGEL-JEHOVAH. 

This  is  the  mysterious  personage  who  appeared  to 
Abraham,  "  the  friend  of  God,"  who  rejoiced  in  seeing 
Messiah's  day.  And  in  the  various  passages  of  script- 
ure in  which  the  appearance  of  the  Angel  of  Jehovah  is 
described,  we  find  him  using  the  first  person,  and  speak- 
ing, and  acting,  and  receiving  homage  and  worship,  not 
as  a  distinct  person  from,  but  as  the  MANIFESTATION  or 
visible  operation  of  the  Godhead.  The  Angel  of  the 
LORD,  then,  is  to  be  understood  as  Jehovah-Jesus  in 
his  visibility.  And  in  this  manifestation  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  Theophanies  of  the  Old  Testament,  we  have,  in 
some  degree,  an  explanation  of  how  he  came  to  be  "  the 
desire  of  all  nations  ;  "  for  it  is  well  known  that  heathen 
nations  of  old,  both  savage  and  civilized,  had  some  no- 
tion of  the  incarnation  of  their  gods,  and  of  the  neces- 
sity of  such  incarnation. 

If  we  are  not  mistaken,  Messiah  Jesus  is  expressly 
called  an  Angel,  the  Angel  of  the  LORD,  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, and  plainly  so  represented  in  the  New.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  texts  which  represent  THE  LOGOS  as  the 
Revealer  of  God,  there  are  some  that  speak  of  the  same 
personage  as  an  Angel,  the  Angel.  The  promise  to  Mo- 


"Y 


118  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

ses  was,  that  on  the  withdrawal  of  the  Lord  himself,  as 
he  appeared  to  him  at  first,  "  my  presence  shall  go  with 
thee,  and  I  will  give  thee  rest."  And  Isaiah  says,  "  In 
all  their  afflictions  he  was  afflicted,  and  the  Angel  of  his 
presence  saved  them."  Ex.  xxxiii:  14,  and  Isa.  Ixiii: 
9.  And  the  Apostle  says,  referring  to  the  Israelites, 
"  Neither  let  us  tempt  Christ  as  some  of  them  also  tempt- 
ed (hini),  and  were  destroyed  of  serpents."  1  Cor.  x:  9. 
And  again,  "  Behold,  I  send  an  Angel  before  thee,  to 
keep  thee  in  the  way  ;  beware  of  him,  and  obey  his 
voice ;  provoke  him  not,  for  he  will  not  pardon  your 
transgressions;  for  my  NAME  is  in  him."  This  is 
clearly  a  promise  of  a  distinct  divine  person,  who  was  to 
go  with  them.  The  same,  doubtless,  who  appeared  in 
the  pillar  cloud.  This  whole  class  of  texts  is  explained 
still  further  by  referring  to  Hebrews  iii :  1  :  "  Wherefore, 
holy  brethren,  partakers  of  the  heavenly  calling,  consider 
the  Apostle  and  High  Priest  of  our  profession,  Christ 
Jesus."  Now  the  etymology  of  the  term  apostle  shows 
that  it  is  identical  in  signification  with  angel.  But  one 
part  of  the  Apostle's  argument  in  this  epistle  is  to  show 
Christ's  superiority  to  angels  ;  there  was,  then,  a  reason 
why  he  should  not  use  in  this  place  the  ordinary  term, 
but  the  corresponding  one.  Both  angel  and  apostle 
mean  one  sent.  Our  Lord  repeatedly  spoke  of  himself 
as  one  sent,  or  come  from  the  Father.  John  iii:  10,  34; 
vi :  29  ;  x  :  30  ;  xx  :  21,  and  elsewhere.  The  apostle's  ar- 
gument, and  the  design  of  the  whole  epistle,  require  that 
we  understand  his  allusion  in  this  place  to  be  to  the  An- 
gel of  Jehovah-  -of  the  divine  presence  spoken  of  in 
the  Old  Testament.  As  Christ  is  emphatically  he  'iclnnn 
God  liatli  sent,  so  he  says  :  Let  us  consider  the  APOSTLE 


THE    ANGEL    HIGH    PRIEST.  119 

and  HIGH  PRIEST  of  our  profession — and  we  shall  see 
that  in  Christianity  we  have  a  MESSENGER  from  God, 
who  is  higher  than  the  angels  of  the  Old  Testament — 
who  is  the  ANGEL-JEHOVAH  himself.  The  Old  Testa- 
ment saints  were  believers  in  the  same  Redeemer  that 
Stephen  saw,  standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God.  I  beg 
to  conclude  this  subject  by  quoting  the  following  pas- 
sa^-es  from  Dr.  Mill  and  Prof.  Olshausen. 

o 

"  The  Angel  of  the  Lord  who  preceded  the  children 
of  Israel  from  Egypt,  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  fire,  was 
the  Lord  himself,  (agreeably  to  Ex.  xiii:  20,  21,  and 
xiv:  19,  20  ;  Numb,  xx:  6,  etc.,)  possessor  of  the  incom- 
municable name,  Jehovah  ;  and  that  this  Angel  of  the 
Covenant,  as  he  is  termed  in  Mai.  iii:  1,  Gen.  xlviii:  15, 
16,  etc.,  is  the  UNCREATED  WORD,  who  appeared  in 
visible  form  to  Jacob  and  Moses,  and  who  was,  in  the 
fullness  of  time,  incarnate  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ, 
is  the  known  undoubted  faith  of  the  church  of  God,  and 
need  not  to  be  enlarged  on  here.  This  same  uncreated 
Angel,  in  whom  was  the  name  of  the  Lord,  is  promised 
by  the  mouth  of  Moses."  Olshausen,  in  one  of  his  tracts 
on  "  The  deeper  sense  of  scripture,"  beautifully  illus- 
trates the  sense  in  which  the  old  dispensation,  the  law 
and  the  prophets,  is  fulfilled  in  the  New  Testament : 
"  The  law,  with  all  its  ordinances,  is  like  a  grain  of  seed 
which  includes  in  itself  the  whole  law  of  the  formation 
of  the  plant.  Should  the  plant  spring  up,  the  grain  of 
seed  must  die  ;  a  power  which  would  cause  it  to  continue 
in  its  isolated  subsistence,  would  be  just  as  destructive 
as  the  Judaizing  teachers,  with  whom  Paul  was  forced 
to  contend.  But  notwithstanding  such  a  fact,  the  law  of 
the  germ  which  lives  no  longer,  invisibly  penetrates  the 


120  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

entire  plant ;  so  that  in  the  plant's  concentrated  forma- 
tions, the  law,  renewing  its  youth,  repeatedly  presents 
itself  again  in  the  fruit.  Thus  the  law  was  apparently 
dissolved  by  Christ,  but  only  in  order  to  be  fulfilled  in 
its  spirit  in  every  iota." 

In  conclusion,  1st.  Our  aim  in  this  chapter  as  in  the 
third  has  been  to  vindicate  the  plan  of  God's  revelation 
as  well  as  the  revelation  itself,  by  showing  that  infinite 
wisdom  has  not  made  any  mistake  in  the  different  dis- 
pensations from  Adam  to  Christ.  Our  blessed  Lord 
never  let  a  hint  fall  from  his  lips  that  any  part  of  the 
Old  Testament  was  done  away.  On  the  contrary,  he 
made  it  the  basis  of  all  his  teachings,  as  did  his  apostles 
after  him.  And  throughout  his  whole  ministry,  he  rep- 
resents himself  as  fulfilling  in  his  person  and  office,  the 
scheme  of  divine  love  as  revealed  in  the  law  and  the 
Psalms  and  the  prophets.  The  Old  Testament  and  his 
own  sayings  are  alike  imperishable.  (See  Matt,  xxiv  : 
35  ;  and  Luke  xxiv  :  44.)  He  came  into  the  world  to 
fulfill  all  righteousness  and  make  an  end  of  transgression 
by  offering  himself  a  sacrifice  to  God,  to  satisfy  divine 
justice,  and  reconcile  us  to  God.  And  in  doing  this  all 
things  were  fulfilled  which  were  written  in  the  law  of 
Moses,  and  in  the  prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms  concerning 
him.  He  came  therefore  not  to  annihilate,  or  abrogate, 
but  to  confirm  and  re-institute — "  to  build  again"  — "•  not 
to  perpetuate  the  former  scheme,  but  to  extend  and  to 
develop  it."  The  glorious  Architect  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment brings  out  clearly  the  original  design  of  the  Old 
Testament,  which  had  not  before  been  so  clearly  seen 
The  Old  Testament  is  the  basis  on  which  the  New  is 
,  and  the  stability  and  completeness  of  both  depend 


THE    GREAT   RULE    OF    LIFE.  121 

on  their  connection.  The  Old  was  the  shadow  of  good 
things  to  come,  which  gave  certain  assurance  of  the  real- 
ity of  the  good  things  to  come,  and  some  idea  of  their 
nature,  size  and  proportions.  The  New  Testament  is 
the  embodiment  and  the  record  of  those  good  things. 
From  Genesis  to  Malachi  we  have  the  outline  of  the 
picture,  and  from  Matthew  to  John  the  divine,  we  have 
its  filling  up  and  coloring.  And  the  whole  is  the  record 
of  a  great  and  precious  salvation.  The  whole  history 
of  the  Jewish  people,  their  ritual  and  government,  is 
one  grand  prophecy  of  the  future  Redeemer.  The  Old 
Testament  is  as  full  of  the  Messiah,  the  age  of  the  world 
considered,  as  the  New  Testament  is  full  of  Christ. 

"  Abraham,  the  saint,  rejoiced  of  old 
When  visions  of  the  LORD  he  saw; 
Moses,  the  man  of  God,  foretold 
This  great  fulflller  of  his  law. 

The  types  bore  witness  to  his  name, 
Obtained  their  chief  design,  and  ceased : 
The  incense  and  the  bleeding  lamb, 
The  ark,  the  altar  and  the  priest." 

2nd.  Let  us  then  study  the  Old  Testament  as  well 
as  the  New.  "  The  word  of  God,  which  is  contained  in 
the  Old  and  New  Testament,  is  the  only  rule  to  direct 
us  how  we  may  glorify  and  enjoy  him." 

Valuable  helps  for  studying  the  Bible  are  now  hap- 
pily within  the  reach  of  Sabbath  school  teachers  and  the 
heads  of  families.  Bible  dictionaries,  concordances,  maps 
of  the  holy  land,  Bible  illustrations  and  oriental  travels 
may  be  consulted  with  great  advantage.  But  above  all, 
let  us  ever  pray  for  the  illumination  of  the  divine  spirit 
on  the  sacred  page,  and  let  us  search  it  with  the  docility 
and  trustfulness  of  a  little  child. 


122  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

3rd.  One  can  hardly  fail  to  be  impressed,  as  we  are 
studying  the  Bible,  especially  the  record  of  patriarchal 
times,  and  of  the  appearance  of  the  angel  of  the  LORD, 
with  the  idea  that  we  are  very  near  to  God.  We  seem 
to  see  his  form  among  the  trees  of  Eden,  and  to  hear  his 
voice  as  he  calls  to  Abraham  on  Mount  Moriah.  The 
riven  peaks  of  Mount  Sinai  seem  yet  to  speak  of  his 
awful  glory.  It  was  the  Lord's  hand  that  shut  Noah 
into  the  ark,  and  as  an  angel  he  talked  with  the  patri- 
archs, and  by  his  spirit,  he  dwelt  in  the  prophets.  But 
in  the  New  Testament  we  are  brought  nearer  still  to 
God — to  God  on  a  throne  of  mercy,  whence  we  may 
obtain  forgiveness  and  grace  for  every  time  of  need. 

4th.  The  lives  of  Old  Testament  worthies  in  such 
close  communion  with  God  breathe  also  a  pilgrim-like 
air.  They  declared  plainly  that  they  were  seeking  a 
better  country,  that  is,  an  heavenly ;  and  God  was  not 
ashamed  to  be  called  their  God,  for  he  hath  prepared  for 
them  a  city.  See  Hebrews  xi.  Are  we  then  like  them, 
pilgrims  and  strangers  ?  Is  our  home  in  heaven  ?  Our 
home  is  where  our  heart  and  treasures  are.  But  as  our 
life  is  a  journey,  on  what  road  do  we  travel,  and  whither 
does  it  lead  ?  On  the  busy,  dusty,  jostling  high  road  of 
humanity,  we  find  many  turns  and  many  rough  places, 
and  many  a  weary  hour  and  many  a  dark  and  heavy 
storm  lowers  over  it.  But  cheer  up,  fellow  pilgrim,  many 
are  on  the  same  road  with  you.  Many  have  travelled 
it  before  you,  who  are  now  safely  arrived  in  glory. 
There  is  one  who  past  along  this  same  road,  travelling 
in  the  greatness  of  his  strength,  and  as  he  overcame,  so 
does  he  give  grace  and  glory  to  all  who  follow  in  his 
footsteps.  You  are  every  hour  coming  nearer  to  your 


OUR    HOME    IS    HEAVEN.  123 


home,  where  storms  will  cease,  and  the  weary  will  be 
forever  at  rest.  If  the  night  is  long  and  dark,  the  morn- 
ing will  only  be  the  more  joyful.  If,  as  pilgrims,  you 
endure  hardships  in  the  wilderness,  the  land  of  promise 
will  be  all  the  more  pleasant  because  of  these  trials  by 
the  way. 

5th.  How  truly  astonishing  is  the  divine  condescen- 
sion. The  long-suffering  of  our  God  is  our  salvation. 
As  he  has  been  pleased  to  give  us  the  sacred  word,  we 
are  not  to  expect  angelic  visitors  to  teach  us  our  duty. 
The  divine  word  is  a  sufficient  rule  to  teach  us  what  to 
believe,  and  what  to  do,  to  be  saved.  The  spirit  that  was 
in  the  prophets  and  apostles  is  promised  to  us.  The 
great  Messiah  has  come.  We  have  seen  his  glory,  as 
of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father.  And  are  we  not, 
some  of  us,  witnesses  of  his  grace  and  truth  —  that  he 
hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sin  ?  Let  us  ever  adore 
him  as  our  Saviour,  and  to  him  be  glory  forever.  Amen. 


JfsmHg  Sacrifice  aifo 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  FAMILY  SACRIFICE  AND  CONFERENCE. 


" In  his  face 

Terror  and  sweetness  labored  for  the  place  : 
Sometimes  his  sun-bright  eyes  would  shine  so  fierce 
As  if  their  pointed  beams  would  even  pierce 
The  soul,  and  strike  the  amaz'd  beholder  dead; 
Sometimes  their  glory  would  disperse  and  spread 
More  easy  flame,  and  like  the  star  that  stood 
O'er  Bethl'em,  promise  and  portend  some  good : 
Mixt  was  his  bright  aspect,  as  if  his  bi'eath 
Had  equal  errands  both  of  life  and  death, : 
Glory  and  mildness  seemed  to  contend 
In  his  fair  eyes."—  Quarles, 


IN  Judges  xiii :  10,  11,  the  angel  is  called  a  man.  In 
doing  so  the  writer  follows  the  woman,  and  both  speak 
of  him,  as  he  appeared  to  them.  He  is  called  a  man, 
not  as  expressive  of  his  true  character,  but  as  he  appeared 
to  them.  As  soon  as  the  angel  appeared  the  second 
time  to  the  woman,  she  respectfully  entreated  that  he 
would  wait  till  she  could  go  and  fetch  her  husband.  And 
having  obtained  assurance  that  he  would  tarry,  she  runs 
for  Manoah.  The  pious  of  those  days  were  familiar 
with  angelic  visitors,  who  appeared  in  the  form  and  usual 
dress  of  prophets  or  men  of  God.  Sometimes  they  were 
distinguished  by  a  peculiar  majesty  and  sublimity  of 


128  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

appearance.  Pictures  of  angels  still  represent  them  with 
glory  around  their  head.  It  is  only  in  the  emblematic 
descriptions  of  them,  that  they  are  said  to  have  wings. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  represent  this  angel  with  wings  and 
in  a  white  robe,  as  all  the  pictures  do  that  I  have  ever 
seen.  In  our  engraving  of  Manoah's  sacrifice  the  artist 
has  given  us  a  spirited  picture  which  has  the  merit  of 
exact  conformity  to  the  text. 

In  verses  twelve  and  fourteen,  Manoah  responds  amen 
to  all  the  angel  says.  As  if  he  had  said,  let  all  you  have 
promised  to  my  wife  come  to  pass.  I  believe.  But  how 
shall  we  order  the  child,  and  how  shall  we  do  unto  him, 
— Hebrew,  what  shall  be  the  rule  (Mishpot)  by  which 
we  shall  govern  and  teach  him  ?  In  the  fifteenth  and 
twenty-first  verses,  inclusive,  we  have  the  conference  of 
the  angel  with  Manoah  and  his  wife,  and  their  sacrifice, 
and  the  angel's  ascent  into  heaven. 

Bread,  in  the  sixteenth  verse,  is  to  be  taken  as  it  is 
often  in  the  Bible,  for  food  in  general.  (2  Kings  vi :  22, 
23  ;  Math,  vi :  11.)  It  is  not  easy  to  see  the  connection 
of  this  verse,  if  we  suppose  that  all  the  conversation  is 
recorded.  If  all  is  written  that  passed  between  them, 
then  this  verse  seems  to  be  an  answer  to  what  was  in 
Manoah's  mind,  rather  than  a  reply  to  anything  he  had 
actually  said.  The  same  thing  is  found  in  the  New 
Testament.  Our  Lord  several  times  replies  to  what 
was  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers,  rather  than  to  any  objec- 
tion stated,  or  question  really  put,  so  far  as  the  record 
goes. 

The  angel  does  not  deny  that  he  was  a  man,  nor  does 
he  deny  that  he  was  God.  He  speaks  to  Manoah  in  the 
character  that  he  knew  Manoah  understood  him  to  be, 


WORSHIP    GOD    ONLY.  129 

and  reminds  him  that  sacrifices  must  be  offered  to  Jeho- 
vah only.  Just  as  when  our  Lord  said  in  reply  to  one 
who  addressed  him  as  '<  good  Master,"  Why  callest  thou 
me  good,  there  is  none  good  but  one,  that  is  God.  He 
did  not  deny  that  he  was  God,  or  affirm  that  he  was  not 
himself  good,  the  -upreme  goodness.  He  meant  to  say, 
so  supreme  in  goodness  is  God,  that  comparatively  it  is 
not  proper  to  say  that  any  one  else  is  good  ;  and  besides, 
if  I  am  really  what  you  say  I  am,  then  why  do  you  not 
receive  my  testimony  ?  In  all  such  places,  the  answer 
is  obviously  made  according  to  the  state  of  the  mind  of 
the  person  addressed,  and  not  intended  to  express  the 
truth  as  known  to  the  speaker.  The  angel  replies  there- 
fore to  Manoah  according  to  the  light  Manoah  had.  He 
does  not  forbid  him  to  sacrifice,  nor  does  he  tell  him  he 
must  not  sacrifice  to  him.  He  does  remind  him,  how- 
ever, that  if  he  offered  sacrifice,  it  must  be  to  God.  As 
though  he,  had  said  to  him,  be  careful  that  your  sacrifice 
be  in  sincerity  and  truth,  and  in  just  the  way  that  God 
has  appointed ;  otherwise  it  will  not  be  acceptable  in  his 
sight.  The  angel  says,  I  have  no  need  of  this  food.  And 
if  you  are  going  to  offer  a  sacrifice,  offer  it  to  Jehovah 
only.  The; re  is  then  no  angel  worship  here.  The 
Hebrew  of  a  kid  for  thee,  more  literally  is,  a  kid  before 
thee.  Manoah  may  have  intended  a  mere  act  of  hospi- 
tality first,  and  that  then  they  would  unite  together  in 
worship,  and  offer  up  a  part  of  it  as  a  burnt  offering. 
Manoah  may  have  remembered  how  Abraham  offered 
to  render  worship  before  an  angel,  and  have  desired  to 
imitate  him.  And  yet  he  was  in  doubt,  if  indeed  he 
had  any  suspicion  of  the  angelic  character  of  his  visitor. 
He  did  not  yet  know  that  he  was  an  angel  of  the  Lord. 


130  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

And  besides,  if  lie  had  intended  to  worship  an  angel,  he 
did  not  do  so.  The  apostle  John,  and  the  prophet 
Daniel  also,  we  remember,  were  prevented  from  render- 
ing homage  to  angels. 

^j  ^j  t? 

The  objection  that  Manoah  was  not  a  priest,  and 
therefore  had  no  right  to  offer  sacrifice,  belongs  to  that 
obsolete  idea,  that  almighty  grace  is  straightened,  and 
can  flow  only  in  one  narrow  channel.  He  who  made 
Melchizedek  a  priest  and  king,  could  make  Manoah  a 
priest.  The  command  or  permission  of  the  angel  was 
sufficient  authority,  and  the  acceptance  of  the  offering  is 
proof  that  it  was  rightly  done.  Christ  Jesus  himself  is 
a  priest  not  after  the  Aaronic  model.  He  came  not  of 
the  tribe  of  Levi.  And  yet  he  is  exalted  above  all  law- 
givers, priests  and  angels,  and  set  down  at  the  right  hand 
of  God,  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour  and  a  Priest  to  appear 
.  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us. 

What  is  thy  name  ?  In  Hebrew,  who  'is  thy  name  ? 
In  the  Bible,  name  is  sometimes  equivalent  to  nature, 
essence  and  glory.  Is  Manoah  rebuked  here  for  unhal- 
lowed curiosity?  I  do  not  see  wherein  he  was  guilty. 
There  is  nothing  intended  to  be  improper,  impertinent, 
or  irreverent  in  his  manner  or  language.  Kor  does  it 
appear  that  he  had  been  told  before,  or  could  have 
learned  in  any  way,  that  the  name  of  the  visitor  was 
not  to  be  known,  but  was  secret,  wonderful,  ineffable. 
The  same  Hebrew  word  here  translated  secret  is  rendered 
wonderful  as  has  been  already  stated  in  Isaiah  ix :  G  ; 
where  it  is  most  unquestionably  applied  to  the  Messiah, 
who  is  Christ.  The  idea  expressed  here  is  one  of 
wonder  at  superhuman  works,  or  on  beholding  miracu- 
lous interpositions.  And  Manoah  and  his  wife  looked 


THE    ANGEL    DOING    WONDROUSLY.  131 

on  in  astonishment,  as  the  angel  did  wondrously.  Bush's 
paraphrase  is  to  the  point :  "  You  have  scarcely  any  real 
occasion  to  inquire  as  to  my  name,  (nature)  ;  it  is  obvi- 
ous from  the  words,  promises,  and  actions  already  wit- 
nessed and  yet  further  to  be  displayed,  that  I  am,  and 
am  therefore  to  be  called  Peli,  the  admirable  one,  the 
great  worker  of  wonders,  the  master  of  miracles.  The 
original  has  the  form  of  a  proper  name,  but  the  force  of 
an  appellative."  May  not  the  angel  have  wished  to 
convey  to  their  mind  that  he  was  the  angel  promised  in 
Ex.  xxiii :  20, 21  ?  Have  we  here  anything  more  than  an 
epitome  of  the  conversation  held  between  the  angel  and 
Manoah  and  his  wife  ?  For  the  true  character  of  this 
angel,  see  the  preceding  chapter. 

The  meat-offering,  in  the  nineteenth  verse,  is  not  a 
happy  translation.  It  should  be  a  "  flour-offering,"  such 
as  the  law  prescribed.  And  offered  it  upon  a  rock,  just 
as  Gideon  did.  The  stone  table  is  still  shown  at  Naza- 
reth, said  to  have  been  used  by  our  Lord.  Detached 
rocks  of  the  proper  size  for  a  table  or  an  altar  abound 
throughout  the  country.  Mounds  of  earth  or  stones 
were  used  as  altars  in  the  earliest  times.  And  while 
Manoah  and  his  wife  were  offering  their  sacrifice  unto 
the  Lord,  the  angel  did  wondrously.  Angel  is  not  in  the 
original,  but  it  is  rightly  supplied.  There  is  no  doubt  of 
the  meaning.  It  was  the  angel  that  did  wondrously. 
The  Hebrew  for  wondrously  is  the  same  word  trans- 
lated secret  in  the  preceding  verse.  The  angel  therefore 
acted  according  to  his  name.  Being  wonderful  in  his 
nature,  it  was  natural  for  him  to  perform  wonderful 
things.  What  the  wonders  were,  we  are  not  told.  Prob- 
ably among  the  things  which  he  did  was  to  manifest  more 


132  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

of  his  divine  glory,  and  to  cause  fire  to  fall  from  heaven 
as  on  Abraham's  sacrifice,  and  Elijah's ;  or  to  come  out 
of  the  rock,  as  the  angel  did  who  appeared  to  Gideon, 
to  consume  the  offering.  As  the  smoke  of  the  sacrifice 
went  up  toward  heaven,  the  angel  ascended  in  the  flames, 
as  if  they  were  his  chariot.  And  now  Manoah's  con- 
viction is  perfect.  His  mind  no  doubt  had  been  gradually 
opening  to  the  truth.  But  now  he  kneiv  that  he  was  an 
angel  of  the  LORD.  See  our  engraving. 

And  Manoah  said  unto  his  wife,  We  shall  surely  die, 
because  we  have  seen  God.  Verses  twenty-two  and 
twenty-three. 

1.  Here  is  a  domestic  conference,  in  which  the  wife 
is    the    best    counselor.     A.  common    notion    prevailed 
among  the  ancient  Jews  that  it  was  death  to  see  the  face 
of  God,  or  of  an  unveiled  angel.     Manoah's  fears  were 
probably  excited  by  this  prevailing  notion.     He   may 
indeed  have   had  in   his   mind  what  the  Lord  said  to 
Moses,  when  he  entreated  to  see  his  glory  :  "  Thou  canst 
not  see  my  face  ;  for  there  shall  no  man  see  me  and 
live."     Jacob  also  speaks  of  his  wrestling  with  the  angel, 
and  of  his  having  seen  God  face  to  face,  and  yet  his  life 
was  preserved  as   something  wonderful.      Gen.  xxxii : 
29,  30.     Manoah's  apprehensions  then  were  not  wholly 
groundless,  yet  we  cannot  but  admire  the  faith  and  com- 
posure of  his  wife. 

2.  Manoah's    alarm   was    true    to  fallen    humanity. 
Guilt  is  always  suspicious.     Adam  and  Eve  were  afraid 
and  hid  themselves  when   they  heard  the  voice  of  the 
Lord    God  in  the  garden.     So  Manoah  and  his  wife, 
instead  of  looking  up  to  heaven  thankfully,  fell  down 
upon  the  earth  half  dead  with  fear.     It  is  our  infirmity 


GOD'S    SURPASSING    MERCIES.  133 

to  pervert  divine  blessings  into  omens  of  evil.  Our  eyes 
are  so  weak  that  we  are  confounded  with  what  should 
comfort  us.  We  are  prone  to  find  death  in  the  vision 
that  God  gives  us  announcing  life.  We  write  bitter 
things,  while  God  writes  unspeakably  precious  promises. 
The  limits  of  grace  and  goodness  are  made  by  ourselves, 
and  not  by  our  heavenly  Father.  He  is  infinitely  better 
to  us  than  our  own  hearts.  His  mercies  surpass  our 
largest  hopes.  The  gospel  offer  is  made  to  us  in  per- 
fect good  faith.  Salvation  is  always  of  the  Lord.  And 
damnation  is  always  the  sinner's  own  work.  The  guilt 
of  perdition  rests  on  the  sinner's  own  head.  God  is  a 
sovereign.  Grace  is  sufficient,  and  the  sinner  is  free. 

3.  The  wife's  reply,  verse  twenty-three,  is  nobly  put 
and  ably  applied.  Her  reasoning  is  remarkably  correct. 
Her  theology  is  as  sound  as  if  she  had  been  educated  by 
the  Synod  of  Dort,  or  by  the  Westminster  Assembly  of 
Divines.  It  is  precisely  the  style  of  reasoning  David 
adopted  when  he  was  in  trouble.  He  often  calls  upon 
his  soul  to  hope  in  God  for  the  future,  by  remembering 
the  divine  goodness  in  times  past.  Moses  used  the  same 
plea  for  an  extension  of  divine  forbearance  and  patience 
towards  the  rebellious  Israelites.  And  Paul  used  the 
same  train  of  argument  to  prove  the  final  and  complete 
triumph  of  a  believer.  "  God  commendeth  his  love 
toward  us,  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died 
for  us.  Much  more  then,  being  now  justified  by  his 
blood,  we  shall  be  saved  from  wrath  through  him.  For 
if  when  we  were  sinners,  we  were  reconciled  to  God  by 
the  death  of  his  Son  ;  much  more,  being  reconciled,  we 
shall  be  saved  by  his  life."  Rom.  v  :  8-10. 

But  Ms  wife  said  unto  him,  If  the  Lord  were  pleased 


134  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

to  kill  us  he  would  not  have  received  a  burnt  offering  and 
a  meat  offering  at  our  hands.  This  the  husband  in  his 
panic  seems  to  have  forgotten.  But  the  wife  continues 
to  remind  him  how  the  Lord  had  showed  them  also  all 
things  concerning  the  birth  and  education  of  their  son, 
and  had  told  them  of  the  great  commission  he  was  to 
execute  as  Israel's  deliverer.  Hence  she  concluded  it 
could  not  be  that  they  were  to  die.  The  accomplish- 
ment of  the  promise  implies  that  the  Lord  would  not 
kill  them.  If  the  Lord  were  pleased  to  kill  us  now,  he 
would  not  have  shown  us  such  things  as  these  at  this 
time. 

It  is  a  safe  method  for  us  to  follow — to  plead  God's 
past  mercies  as  a  ground  of  hope  for  the  future.  His 
rule  is  grace  upon  grace.  He  that  has,  receives  more. 
It  is  not  irreverent  to  say  that  he  who  gave  his  Son  for 
us,  will  with  him  give  us  all  things.  Is  it  then  reason- 
able to  fear  that  he  who  has  preserved  us  forty  years  will 
fail  us  for  the  next  twenty,  if  our  pilgrimage  should  con- 
tinue so  long?  He  who  made  you,  aged  friend,  and 
gave  his  Son  to  redeem  you,  will  not  suffer  you  to  perish 
for  the  want  of  meaner  things.  And  the  feeling  of  your 
need  of  his  grace,  is  a  proof  that  he  is  waiting  to  be 
gracious.  Even  the  anxious  inquiry  after  salvation 
proves  that  the  work  is  already  begun.  Penitential 
pangs  are  not  natural,  but  gracious,  and  argue  that  God 
has  laid  his  hand  upon  us.  And  he  is  a  rock.  All  his 
works  are  perfect.  He  will  not  leave  his  work  of  grace 
half  finished.  Nor  would  he  have  told  us  such  things 
of  his  love  and  grace --he  would  not  have  manifested 
such  unwillingness  to  destroy  the  impenitent,  as  we  find 
in  the  Scriptures,  nor  have  exercised  such  long-suffering 


DIVINE    SINCERITY.  135 

and  patience  as  we  see  in  history  and  in  the  events  of 
every  day  life,  if  he  did  not  offer  pardon  and   eternal 
life  to  us  in  perfect  good  faith  on  the  terms  propounded 
in   the   gospel.      And  surely  the   argument  from  past 
experience  should  be  a  satisfactory  one.     Experience 
worketh  hope,  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed.     Romans 
v :  4,  5.     Is  it  not  an  impeachment  of  the  divine  sin- 
cerity, to  fear  that  if  God  begins  a  good  work,  he  will 
not  complete  it  ?     If  he  has  preserved  us  so  long — borne 
with  our  waywardness  and  pardoned  our  transgressions, 
may  we  not  TRUST  HIM,  for  time  to  come  ?     May  we  not 
trust  in  the  loving-kindness  of  him  who  so  loved  us  as  to 
give  his  Son  to  redeem  us  ?     It  cannot  be  that  supreme 
benevolence  tantalizes  us — keeps  us  as  the  Philistines 
did  Samson  to  make  sport  of  us  on  some  great  occasion. 
If  so,  why  has  he  ever  opened  our  hearts  to  our  need  of 
salvation  ?     Why   do   we  feel  our  guilt  and  desire  to 
escape   from  the   wrath  to  come  ?     Surely  he  would  not 
have  showed  us  all  these  things,  nor  would  he  at  this  time 
have  told  us  SUCH   THINGS  as  these,  if  the  LORD  were 
pleased  to  kill  us.     Surely  he  would  not  have  announced 
to  us  the  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel  —  would  not  have 
made  to  us  such  full  and  free  offers  of  mercy,  if  he  were 
not  pleased  to  accept  us.     Surely  there  is  honesty  in 
the  declaration:  It  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of 
all  acceptation,  that  Jesus   Christ  came  into  the  world  to 
save  sinners  —  even  the  chief  of  sinners.     God's  accept- 
ance  of  the  sacrifice  of  his  son,  Jesus  Christ,  is  a  pos- 
itive proof  that  his  merits  and  mediation  are   available 
for  us.     According  to  the  Scriptures,  Christ  died  for  our 
sins  and  rose  again  for  our  justification,  and  now  appears 
in  the  presence  of  God  for  us  as  our  High  Priest  and 


136  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

ever-living  Intercessor.  Paul,  in  all  his  epistles,  but 
especially  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  insists  upon  the 
fact  that  Christ  is  now  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
throne  of  God,  as  conclusive  that  he  is  superior  to  Moses 
and  Aaron  and  all  the  angels.  And  the  evidence  more- 
over of  his  acceptance  at  the  right  hand  of  God  is  ren- 
dered complete  by  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  take 
of  the  things  which  are  his,  and  show  them  unto  us  —  con- 
vincing the  world  of  sin,  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment. 
And  since  God  has  not  withheld  from  us  his  only  Son, 
but  hath  commended  his  love  to  us,  in  that  he  gave  his 
Son  to  die  for  us,  while  we  were  yet  his  enemies  ;  how 
much  more  will  he  not  give  us  all  things  on  account  of 
the  gift  of  his  Son  ?  Wherefore  we  beseech  you  in 
Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God  ;  for  he  hath 
made  him  to  be  sin — a  sin-offering — for  us,  though  he 
knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness 
of  God  in  him.  Wherefore  Jesus  also,  that  he  might 
sanctify  the  people  with  his  own  blood,  suffered  without 
the  gate.  Let  us  go  forth  therefore  unto  him  without 
the  camp,  bearing  his  reproach.  Heb.  xiii :  12,  13. 


fife  of  %  DOT 


CHAPTER   VII. 


THE  LIFE  OF  THE  HERO  BEGUN. 

"  There  are  tones  that  will  haunt  us,  though  lonely 

Our  path  be  o'er  mountain  or  sea; 
There  are  looks  that  will  part  from  us  only 

When  memory  ceases  to  be ; 
There  are  hopes  which  our  burden  can  lighten, 

Though  toilsome  and  steep  be  the  way ; 
And  dreams  that,  like  moonlight,  can  brighten 

With  a  light  that  is  clearer  than  day." 


And  the  woman  bare  a  son,  and  called  his  name  Sam- 
son. The  original  is  Shimskon,  from  the  root  Shamash, 
to  serve.  The  Hebrew  for  sun,  Shemesh,  is  probably 
from  the  same  root,  and  means  a  little  servant,  that  is,  a 
little  sun.  But  why  did  they  call  him  Shimshon  (Sam- 
son) ?  What  relation  had  he  to  the  sun  ?  Schmid  and 
others  say  his  parents  so  called  him  in  allusion  to  the 
shining  of  the  angel's  face,  like  the  sun,  when  he  first 
appeared  to  his  mother.  Others,  and  more  properly,  say, 
because  of  the  resplendent  brightness  that  surrounded  the 
angel  as  he  ascended  out  of  their  sight,  after  the  sacri- 
fice. Some  assume  that  maternal  fondness  selected  this 
name  as  a  proper  one  for  an  only  son.  As  there  is  but 
one  sun,  so  she  would  have  but  one  Samson.  By  what- 
ever process  his  parents  arrived  at  the  name,  whether 


140  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

by  the  etymology,  or  derivation,  hinted  at,  or  by  some 
other,  they  no  doubt  intended  the  name  of  their  child  to 
be  expressive  of  their  gratitude,  and  a  proof  of  their 
pious  acknowledgment  of  the  divine  favor  shown  them. 

Samson's  history,  like  that  of  Esau  and  Ishmael,  be- 
gins before  his  birth,  and  like  that  of  Moses,  Samuel,  and 
Solomon,  is  recorded  from  his  birth.  Like  Jeremiah, 
he  was  set  apart  to  a  great  work  from  his  mother's  womb. 
There  seems,  however,  to  have  been  nothing  extraordi- 
nary in  the  manner  of  his  birth.  The  child  is  always 
father  to  the  man ;  but  in  some  this  is  more  apparent 
than  in  others.  It  was  so  with  Samson.  "  The  presa- 
ges of  the  womb  and  the  cradle  are  commonly  answered 
in  the  life  ;  it  is  not  the  use  of  God  to  cast  away  strange 
beginnings." — Hall. 

The  record  of  his  childhood  and  early  youth,  which  is 
also  true  of  many  of  the  world's  great  men,  is  scant.  He 
grew,  and  the  Lord  blessed  him.  That  is,  such  divine 
blessings  rested  on  him  that  it  was  plainly  to  be  seen  he 
was  under  God's  peculiar  protection.  We  cannot  help 
feeling,  however,  some  desire  to  know  more  of  his  boy- 
hood, that  we  might  see  how  the  child  was  father  to  the 
man.  The  man  was  most  extraordinary ;  how  was  the 
boy?  Did  his  companions,  in  the  streets  of  Zorah, 
nameless  and  unknown,  see  anything  in  the  long-haired 
boy  that  predicted  he  was  to  be  the  lion-killer,  and  the 
slayer  of  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  ? 

And  the  Lord  blessed  him — caused  him  to  grow  in 
stature  and  strength.  External  providences  favored  him, 
and  he  was  under  internal  divine  influences. 

"  And  the  Spirit  of  the  LORD  began  to  move  him  at 
times  in  the  camp  of  Dan,  between  Zorah  and  Eshtaol." 


THE    SPIRIT'S    FIRST    MOVING.  141 

That  is,  while  he  was  yet  young  —  yet  at  home  with  his 
parents,  and  subject  unto  them,  the  Spirit  of  God  moved 
on  his  heart,  causing  him  to  feel  the  humiliation  of  his 
countrymen,  the  hatefulness  of  their  subjection  to  such 
a  people  as  the  Philistines,  and  exciting  in  him  strong 
desires  to  do  something  for  their  deliverance.  From  his 
tenderest  years  God  began  to  prepare  him  for  the  work 
to  which  he  was  called.  It  was  a  great  honor  to  have 
something  to  do,  and  a  great  mercy  to  be  prepared  to  do 
it.  The  divine  influence  on  him,  I  apprehend,  was  both 
gracious  and  miraculous.  True,  the  power  to  work  mir- 
acles, and  the  gift  of  prophecy,  were  not  always  and  nec- 
essarily connected  with  an  experience  of  grace.  They 
ought,  indeed,  always  to  have  been  found  united  ;  but 
historically  we  know  they  were  not.  Nor  are  eminent 
gifts  and  attainments  now  always  found  in  connection 
with  personal  piety.  When  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
moved  the  child  Samson,  I  suppose  we  are  to  under- 
stand that  he  was  regenerated,  and  that  such  ideas 
were  put  into  his  youthful  mind,  and  such  strength 
imparted  to  his  growing  frame,  as  God  saw  would  best 
fit  him  for  his  future  work.  And  it  is  just  so  still.  It 
is  as  true  now  as  it  ever  was,  that  God  renews  the  heart 
by  his  Spirit,  and  providence  prepares  us  for  the  work 
to  which  he  calls  us  in  this  world.  The  Holy  Spirit 
that  moved  the  patriarchs,  and  prophets,  and  judges, 
in  days  of  old,  is  not  another  Holy  Spirit,  but  the  same, 
the  very  same  that  came  down  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
and  that  opened  the  heart  of  Lydia,  at  Philippi,  and 
dwelt  in  Paul  and  in  John  the  divine.  Regeneration  is 
always  an  act  of  omnipotence.  True  holiness  is  never 
produced  in  us  but  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  only  dif- 


142  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

ference  between  the  moving  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon 
the  heart  of  a  child  now,  and  among  us,  and  upon  Sam- 
son, lies  in  the  bearing  that  it  had  in  his  case  upon  his 
mission  as  a  judge  and  an  avenger  of  his  people.  The 
Holy  Spirit  was  bestowed  in  an  extraordinary  measure 
in  Old  Testament  times,  upon  those  persons  whom  the 
Lord  had  chosen  to  perform  great  deeds  for  the  deliver- 
ance of  his  people. 

The  original  for  began  to  move  him  at  times,  is  peculiar. 
According  to  Diodati,  it  means,  to  inspire  magnani- 
mous thoughts  into  him,  and  give  him  a  miraculous 
strength  of  body  and  courage,  and  to  incite  him  to  do 
great  and  more  than  human  acts.  The  radical  word 
means  an  anvil,  and  the  metaphor  seems  to  be  drawn 
from  the  repeated  and  somewhat  violent  shocks  of  the 
smith's  hammer.  Thus  did  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  stir 
up  Samson.  His  call  was  clear,  repeated,  and  urgent. 

The  twenty-fifth  verse  seems  to  say  that  a  camp  was 
formed  between  Zorah  and  Eshtaol,  to  give  some  check 
to  the  Philistines ;  and  when  the  Hebrews  went  out  for 
drill,  or  to  make  a  demonstration  against  the  enemy, 
young  Samson  went  out  with  them,  and  by  various  man- 
ifestations of  strength  and  courage,  gave  intimations  of 
what  he  would  do  when  he  should  become  of  age.  This 
was  the  bright  sunny  morning  of  our  hero  judge.  Alas  ! 
that  it  was  so  short.  He  grew,  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
began  to  move  him,  inspiring  him  with  the  purpose  and 
preparing  him  for  the  deliverance  of  his  people.  The 
sequel  discloses,  however,  the  painful  fact  that  Samson 
did  not  meet  the  possibilities  of  his  destiny.  His  char- 
acter was  not  equal  to  his  gifts.  His  history  is  a  riddle, 
the  unravelling  of  which  is  a  warning  of  great  signifi- 


YOUNG    MEN    ADMONISHED.  143 

cance  to  YOUNG  MEN,  especially  to  such  as  have  had 
pious  parents,  and  begun  life  with  high  religious  hopes. 
His  name  is  a  miracle  and  a  by-word  —  a  glory  and  a 
shame  —  proclaiming  divine  sovereignty  and  mercy,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  awful  severity  of  divine  goodness. 

As  Samson's  manhood  is  not  such  as  his  youth  prom- 
ised, let  no  child  of  pious  parents  push  away  this  history, 
and  say,  I  shall  never  disappoint  my  parents.  Do  we 
not  read  of  one  who,  with  quite  as  much  indignation  as 
it  is  prudent  for  any  young  man  to  express,  said,  in  ref- 
erence to  a  wicked  thing,  Is  thy  servant  a  dog  that  he 
should  do  this  thing  ?  and  yet  he  did  do  that  thing. 
Your  baptismal  covenant,  young  man,  can  hardly  bind 
you  more  strictly  than  Samson's  circumcision  and  Naza- 
ritish  vows  bound  him.  Nor  have  you  any  right  to  con- 
clude that  the  gracious  movements  of  God's  Spirit  will 
be  more  effectual  and  persistent  in  you  than  they  were 
in  him.  It  is  true,  you  may  have  had  advantages  which 
he  had  not  —  and  yet  it  is  equally  true  that  many  young 
people,  brought  up  as  piously  as  yourselves,  have  for- 
gotten their  Bibles,  and  forsaken  the  house  of  God,  and 
made  shipwreck  of  the  faith  and  hope  of  their  parents. 

It  is  painfully  true  that  some  of  the  children  of  great 
promise,  and  high  hopes,  have  turned  out  very  badly. 
Their  sun  has  gone  clown  into  the  night  of  sorrow  and 
death  while  yet  it  was  high  noon  ;  nor  have  they  fallen 
alone.  They  have  crushed  the  hearts  of  their  parents, 
and  brought  their  gray  hairs  with  sorrow  to  the  grave. 
Let  the  biography  of  this  extraordinary  man,  then,  be  a 
warning  to  all  the  young,  of  the  terrific  whirlpools,  and 
sunken  rocks,  on  which  so  many  adventurers  have  made 
shipwreck  for  time  and  eternity. 


144  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

The  principles  taught  in  the  foregoing  remarks,  and 
suggested  by  the  early  training  of  our  giant  judge,  are 
of  universal  importance  ;  but  especially  so  in  a  new  coun- 
try, and  in  the  infancy  of  a  State.  A  great  teaching 
philosopher  of  antiquity*  asserts,  and  correctly,  too,  that 
he  who  is  about  to  be  a  good  man  in  anything  whatever, 
ought  immediately,  from  childhood,  to  practice,  when 
engaged  in  playful  and  serious  pursuits,  the  very  things 
suited  to  the  particular  object  he  has  in  view.  Plato's 
idea  is,  that  he  who  is  about  to  make  himself  a  good 
farmer,  should  have  playthings  that  teach  him  about  the 
tilling  of  the  ground.  And  he  that  is  to  be  a  house- 
builder,  should  play  at  building  children's  houses.  And 
his  parents  or  guardian  should  provide  him  with  the  im- 
plements, as  toys  that  should  teach  him  familiarity  with 
the  future  employment  of  the  tools  belonging  to  the  art 
he  is  to  pursue.  The  teacher  of  children  should  endeav- 
or to  make  the  plays  and  pleasures  of  the  child  intro- 
ductory to  his  future  life.  If  a  boy  is  to  be  a  soldier, 
he  should  be  taught  to  walk,  ride,  endure  fatigue,  and 
the  like  things  in  his  sports.  The  child  should  be  taught 
what  he  is  to  do  when  he  is  a  man.  This  princi- 
ple is  generally  acknowledged,  and  yet  among  nominal 
Christians  nothing  is  more  apparent  than  the  neglect  of 
children  AT  HOME.  It  is  not  merely  the  neglect  of  fam- 
ily religion  that  I  deplore,  but  of  all  proper  family  nur- 
ture and  admonition.  I  am  thoroughly  persuaded  that 
a  very  large  proportion  of  the  laivlessness,  iniquity,  and 
corruption  of  the  times  may  be  traced  to  the  want  of 
subordination  and  instruction  in  our  families.  The  hope 

*  Plato,  the  Laws,  book  i. 


EARLIEST    LESSONS    MOST   DISTINCT.  145 

of  the  state  and  of  the  church  is  of  necessity  centered 
in  the  young.     It  is  a  most  imperative  duty,  then,  to 
bring  them  up  in  the  way  they  should  go.     In  wisdom 
the  Creator  has  arranged  that  the  family  should  be  the 
first  and  greatest  of  all  educational  agencies.    The  home, 
and  then  the  school  room,  and  the  house  of  worship,  are 
instrumentalities  that  make  us  what  we  are.    The  home 
is  first  and  most  important ;  there  is  the  root  that  feeds 
the  life  ;    there  the  precious  metal  is  first  moulded  into 
shape  which  may  afterwards  be  rasped  and  polished,  but 
not  recast.    There  lines  may  be  traced  on  a  yielding  and 
pliable  nature,  that  become  as  enduring  as  if  sculptured 
on  stone.    The  lessons  of  our  earliest  home  are  wrought 
into  the  structure  of  the  mind,  and  give  to  it  shape  and 
coloring  more  or  less  indestructible.     The  mind  of  the 
little  one,  in  the  mother's  arms,  is  like  a  daguerreotype 
plate,  that  receives  whatever  image  is  first  cast  upon  it. 
No  subsequent  impressions  can  ever  be  so  distinct.    And 
so  susceptible  is  the  tender  mind,  that  it  is  ever  taking 
impressions.     In  the  granite  rocks  we  find  preserved 
from  ages  so  long  past  that  we  cannot  name  their  date, 
impressions  of  the  tiniest  leaves  of  the  forest.     So  it  is 
often  the  case  that  words  uttered  carelessly  sink  into  the 
soul,  and  may  be  traced  upon  its  every  fibre  forever 
afterwards,  as  if  written  with  a  pen  of  iron,  and  the  point 
of  a  diamond.    A  breath  covers  the  frosted  window  with 
an  icy  film,  and  a  word,  or  a  cruel  suspicion,  or  a  wicked 
gesture  or  picture,  may  forever  crust  the  mirror  of  a 
young  heart.     But  not  only  is  the  young  heart  peculi- 
arly susceptible  of  impressions,  but  it  is,  alas !  prone  to 
evil  rather  than  good.    This  is  true  of  all  men  until  they 
are  taught  of  God.     But  in  the  young  there  is  a  pecu- 

G 


146  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

liar  aptitude  to  receive  good  impressions.  Evil  habits 
are  not  then  formed ;  the  passions  are  not  then  glowing 
like  a  furnace  ;  evil  associations  have  not  then  preoccu- 
pied the  affections.  This  is  the  time  to  open  the  heart 
to  truth,  and  turn  it  to  God.  These  opportunities  are 
beyond  all  price.  Hear  the  lesson,  parents  and  Sunday 
school  teachers. 

All  history,  all  analogy,  and  all  experience  prove  that 
institutions  alone  cannot  keep  a  people  free.  It  is  in 
the  intelligence,  social  morality,  and  religious  spirit  of 
the  people  that  lies  the  hope  of  our  continuing  to  have 
a  free  and  salutary  form  of  government.  It  is  as  plain 
and  true  as  that  there  is  a  sun  in  the  heavens,  pouring 
his  light  upon  our  fields  and  mountains,  and  ripening  our 
fruits  and  harvest,  that  our  rapid  growth  and  great  pros- 
perity are  to  be  ascribed  to  moral  causes — our  religious- 
ness of  character,  and  our  free  and  wisely  constructed 
institutions.  Whenever  we  lose  our  social  ethics  and 

t 

religious  spirit,  AVC  shall  find  the  days  of  the  Republic 
numbered,  and  the  reign  of  corruption,  anarchy,  and 
tyranny  commenced. 

FAMILY  TRAINING  is  a  theme  that  cannot  be  exhaust- 
ed. Even  when  nothing  new  is  elicited  in  urging  its 
importance,  it  is  well  to  bring  old  truths  again  and  again 
before  the  public.  As  in  building  the  pyramids,  stone 
was  laid  upon  stone,  and  course  upon  course,  until  the 
huge  pile  arose,  and  then  it  was  finished  from  the  top 
downwards;  so  at  home  and  in  earliest  years  the  work 
of  education  is  begun.  And  long  afterwards,  by  line 
upon  line,  and  precept  upon  precept,  here  a  little  and 
there  a  little,  the  mind  is  developed,  and  the  moral 
character  formed.  The  importance  of  proper  training 


YOUNG  MEN  OUR  GOVERNORS.        147 

at  home,  and  in  earliest  years,  is  greatly  enhanced 
among  us  by  the  fact  that  our  country  is  in  a  great 
measure  governed  by  young  men,  and  that  our  young 
men  leave  home  early ;  and  yet  almost  all  the  education 
many  of  them  receive  is  obtained  at  home  and  from 
the  primary  school.  And  when  they  leave  home  they 
are  exposed  to  many  dangers :  they  are  not  only  from 
home,  but  many  of  them  are  without  proper  female 
society  ;  they  are  in  the  season  of  the  passions  ;  they  are 
ambitious  of  fame  and  wealth.  It  is  vastly  important, 
therefore,  that  they  be  well  established  in  right  moral 
principles.  How  else  can  we  expect  them  r&  resist  the 
fascinations  of  vice,  or  escape  the  corruption  of  a 
weakened  moral  sense,  from  the  infidelity  that  prevails 
,around  them?  Much  has  been  done  by  our  schools, 
Lyceums,  lecturings,  libraries,  and  pulpit  efforts,  for  the 
young,  but  we  are  not  satisfied.  The  results  attained 
are  not  commensurate  with  our  hopes,  nor  with  the  ur- 
gencies of  the  case.  Crime  is  still  on  the  increase.  The 
present  course  of  a  very  large  number  of  our  youth  — 
I  dare  not  say  how  large  a  proportion  —  is  not  hopeful. 
The  future  of  American  youth,  physically,  mentally,  and 
socially,  is  not  hopeful.  The  prospect  is  one  of  dimin- 
ished stature  and  strength.  The  hastening  to  be  rich, 
the  excess,  and  extravagance,  and  dissipation  of  the  pres- 
ent generation  are  likely  to  enia.il  feebleness  and  luxury  on 
that  which  is  to  come ;  nor  is  this  true  only  of  those  who 
have  had  vicious  parents.  The  ranks  of  such  are  every 
day  increasing  from  the  thresholds  of  piety.  Are  there 
not  now  among  the  profane  many  that  wnv  brought  up 
in  the  homes  of  industry  and  prayer  ?  \Ve  do  not  read 
aright  if  violence  and  forgery,  intemperance  and  lewd- 


o 


148  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

ness,  profane  and  obscene  language,  robberies,  murders, 
divorces,  and  suicides,  have  not  become  so  common  as 
hardly  to  awaken  our  surprise.  The  society  of  our  day 
is  diseased — it  is  corrupt-  -it  is  rotten-  -it  is  "  a  shame 
and  a  lie."  A  fearful  malady  is  at  work,  and  sad  con- 
sequences are  to  be  apprehended.  Thinking  men,  earn- 
est minded,  large  hearted  men  are  sad,  and  some  are  even 
despairing.  How  is  it  that  so  much  parental  love  and 
care,  anxiety  and  toil,  produce  no  more  fruits  ?  In  the 
next  generation  who  are  to  be  our  successful  merchants, 
our  legislators,  statesmen,  and  learned  and  great  men  ? 
If  the  moaning  of  life  is  neglected,  if  the  young  are 
physically  debilitated,  and  morally  depraved,  and  their 
minds  dark  and  ignorant,  how  can  we  avoid  a  rapid 
movement  on  the  downward  road  ? 

To  have  any  fears  on  such  a  subject  is  painful  to  a 
well  disposed  mind.  It  fills  us  with  horror  to  think  of 
the  calamities  that  are,  sooner  or  later,  measured  out  to 
corrupt  communities  by  a  retributive  providence.  As 
parents  and  patriots,  and  much  more  as  Christians,  we 
should  consider  the  dangerous  tendencies  of  excessive 
devotion  to  money  making  and  sensual  delights.  If  pa- 
rents are  devoted  to  an  increase  of  stocks  and  dividends, 
so  as  to  neglect  the  mind  and  social  affections  —  if  their 
ambition  is  to  occupy  a  palatial  residence,  keep  a  superb 
equipage,  and  deck  their  daughters  in  the  stillest  crino- 
lines, richest  furs,  and  most  costly  silks,  and  have  their 
sons  drive  the  fastest  horses,  and  drink  the  most  costly 
wines  —  then  what  will  their  grandchildren  be,  if  they 
have  any?  Will  not  the  spirit  of  the  fathers  become 
stronger  and  more  sordid,  and  more  injurious  as  it 
descends  to  the  children  ?  What,  then,  can  be  done  ? 


THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL'S  PLACE.        149 

1st.  Why,  a  more  healthy,  vigorous  kind  of  literature 
can  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  young.  In  popularizing 
science,  our  school  systems  are  almost  emasculated.  Our 
children  are  fed  on  namby  pamby  stuff,  when  they  should 
have  honest  hard  bread  and  sound  meat. 

In  making  a  royal  road  to  scholarship  easy,  we  have 
denied  them  the  gymnastics  of  the  mind,  and  too  many 
of  them  have  stumbled  over  the  ass'  bridge,  or  are  stand- 
ing still  upon  it.  The  Peter  Parley  literature  of  our 
schools  should  be  exiled  to  the  islands  of  the  southern 
Pacific. 

2dly.  Our  children  should  be  taught  everywhere  and 
always,  that  knowledge,  mental  power,  discipline  of 
thought,  and  not  a  mere  parrot  recital  at  an  examination, 
is  the  thing  to  be  gained  by  going  to  school.  Dr.  John- 
son said  that  it  was  a  great  thing  gained  when  a  child 
knew  there  was  such  a  place  as  Kamschatka.  All 
knowledge  tends  to  profit. 

3dly.  Family  government  and  training  must  be  re- 
sumed. One  of  the  sources  of  the  evils  of  the  times  is 
in  the  relaxed  state  of  family  government. 

As  the  common  schools  and  Sabbath  schools  have 
prevailed,  and  have  been  made  to  take  the  place  of 
family  teachings,  so  the  influence  of  parents  has  dimin- 
ished. Now  if  the  common  schools  and  Sunday  schools 
are  made  substitutes  for  family  government,  then  it  were 
a  misfortune  that  they  have  ever  been  established.  It 
is  not  their  vocation  to  take  the  child  altogether  from 
parental  training.  Their  true  place  is  auxiliary  to  the 
parent.  They  are  to  help  the  parent,  but  not  to  super- 
sede him,  or  in  the  smallest  degree  weaken  his  influence. 

4thly.  In  the  family  training  of  children  there  must 


150  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

be  a  more  earnest  simple  inculcation  of  moral  precepts. 
In  becoming  enlightened  and  liberal,  we  must  distinguish 
between  a  proper  regard  for  religious  truth  and  absolute 
indifference.  The  religious  principles  of  the  families  of 
a  nation  give  character  to  its  morals  and  mental  activi- 
ties. All  the  blessings  of  civilized  life  may  be  traced  to 
our  private  dwellings  —  to  our  homes  and  to  our  mothers. 
The  corner  stones  of  our  churches  and  of  the  state  are 
our  hearthstones,  guarded  by  lawfully  wedded  forms  of 
conjugal  love.  "  Let  our  temples/*  says  one,  "  crumble, 
and  our  academies  decay ;  let  every  public  edifice,  our 
halls  of  justice,  and  our  capitals  of  state,  be  levelled  with 
the  dust,  but  spare  our  homes.  Let  no  socialist  invade 
them  with  his  wild  plans  of  community.  Man  did  not 
invent,  and  he  cannot  improve  or  abrogate  them.  A  pri- 
vate shelter  to  cover  in  two  hearts  dearer  to  each  other 
than  all  in  the  world  ;  high  walls,  to  exclude  the  profane 
eyes  of  human  beings ;  seclusion  enough  for  children  to 
feel  that  mother  is  a  holy  and  a  peculiar  name  —  this  is 
home ;  and  here  is  the  birth  place  of  every  virtuous 
impulse,  and  every  sacred  thought.  Here  the  church 
and  the  state  must  come  for  their  origin  and  their  sup- 
port. Oh,  spare  our  homes  !  " 

Yes,  our  HOMES  must  be  cherished  as  the  most  sacred 
spots  we  have  on  earth.  Here  we  may  teach  our  chil- 
dren how  to  regain  ten  thousand  little  E dens,  by  inspiring 
them  with  a  love  for  the  beauties  of  nature  and  of  art, 
and  with  love  to  mankind  and  their  blessed  Creator.  I 
should  have  been  an  atheist,  said  John  Randolph,  but  for 
the  recollection  that  my  mother  used  to  take  my  little 
hands  in  hers,  and  cause  me  to  say,  on  her  knees,  "  Our 
Father  which  art  in  heaven."  But  to  make  home  the 


HOME    THE    SEAT    OF    LOVE.  151 

fountain  of  such  influences,  it  must  be  truly  the  seat  of 
the  affections.  Some  parents  seem  to  move  among  their 
tender  olive  plants  with  so  much  haughty  dignity,  and 
cold  precision,  that  they  remind  me  of  the  lofty  and 
cragged  peaks  of  the  icebergs  that  are  sometimes  found 
floating  among  the  island  gardens  of  the  tropics.  Their 
presence  is  always  known  by  the  chilliness  of  the  air. 
I  am  persuaded  it  were  better  to  put  out  our  children's 
eyes  than  to  crush  their  affections  in  the  nursery.  It 
were  better  that  a  whole  family  were  carried  off  by  the 
plague,  than  that  it  should  live  without  a  heart.  Rather 
let  the  young  heart  burst  out  in  glee,  and  song,  and  sym- 
pathy. Teach  the  little  one  to  hate  only  "  sin,  dirt,  and 
the  devil,"  and  to  love  everything  beautiful  and  good. 
Let  the  warm  emotions  of  the  little  heir  to  immortality 
gush  out  for  the  cow  that  givers  him  milk,  and  for  the 
dog  that  guards  his  father's  door,  and  allows  his  tiny 
fingers  to  pinch  his  ears,  and  gouge  his  eyes.  Teach 
your  children  to  hate  vice,  and  to  love  the  robin  and  the 
rose,  their  country  and  their  God,  and  then  you  may 
commit  the  government  to  their  shoulders.  And  let  the 
young  prize  the  principles  of  their  pious  parents,  and 
heed  their  solemn  warnings  against  the  fascinations  of 


vice. 


Prize  them,  brother,  'twill  not  last  forever, 

And,  once  escaped,  it  will  return  — never! 
It  is  the  morning :  work  while  la->ts  its  light ; 
Ye  cannot  toil  so  cheerily  at  night. 
Jt  is  the  time  of  sowing;  let  the  seed 
Produce  the  harvest  that  your  soul  will  need. 
And  it  is  the  planting  time ;  be  sure  the  root 
Be  such  as  bears  the  most  delicious  fruit." 


amson's  Jfirst  f  oit  mfo  \\t  lion  |i§|)i. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


SAMSON'S  FIRST  LOYE  AND  THE  LION-FIGHT. 

"  Yet  truth  to  say,  I  oft  have  heard  men  wonder 
Why  thou  should'st  wed  Philistian  women  rather 
Than  of  thine  own  tribe ;  fairer,  or  as  fair, 
At  least  of  thy  own  nation,  and  as  noble." 

Samton. 

IN  the  last  chapter  we  had  a  glance  at  the  early  piety 
of  the  great  Israelite.  The  spirit  of  God  was  upon  him 
in  the  camp  of  his  countrymen  near  his  native  city.  His 
religion,  however,  does  not  seem  to  have  flourished  long. 
His  journeys  to  Timnath,  though  marked  with  deeds  of 
miraculous  strength  are  the  beginnings  of  his  trouble. 

The  fourteenth  chapter  tells  us  how  he  went  down  to 
Timnath,  and  fell  in  love  with  a  Philistine  damsel.  Tirn- 
nath  was  near  the  sea  side,  hence  the  expression  went 
doivn.  Though  this  city  belonged  to  his  own  tribe,  it  was 
at  this  time  in  the  hands  of  the  Philistines.  It  had  once 
belonged  to  Judah,  but  had  been  transferred  to  Dan.  It 
was  some  fifteen  miles  north-east  of  Eshtaol,  and  twenty 
west  from  Jerusalem.  Its  possession  now  by  the  Phil- 
istines was  a  reproach  to  the  Israelites.  Either  they 
hud  not  driven  them  out  originally  as  they  should  have 
done  in  the  time  of  the  conquest  under  Joshua  and  Caleb, 


156  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

or  the  Philistines  had  returned  and  re-occupied  it.  How- 
ever this  may  have  been,  there  was  at  this  time  free 
intercourse  between  the  Philistines  and  the  Hebrews. 
The  population  w^as  probably  mixed,  but  the  Hebrews 
were  under  tribute  to  the  Philistines. 

In  considering  Samson's  choice  of  a  wife  we  are  con- 
scious of  a  feeling  of  painful  disappointment.  We  had 
a  right  to  expect  Manoalis  son  would  have  made  a  bet- 
ter selection.  In  choosing  a  Philistine  we  begin  to  see 
his  lower  nature  acting  the  tyrant.  But  it  were  well  if 
domestic  history  in  modern  times  did  not  present  many 
instances  of  similar  stubborn  ess.  In  such  matters,  the 
fancy  of  young  people  is  often  the  supreme  law.  Louis 
the  fourteenth  was  not  more  head-strong  and  dogmatic 
when  he  said,  that  his  heavy  guns  were  the  last  reason 
of  kings,  than  is  the  mere  fancy  of  the  eye  in  youth. 
Samson's  falling  in  love,  was  in  the  ordinary  way  :  "  And 
he  saw  a  woman  of  Timnath,"  and  she  pleased  him  well. 
Hebrew,  "  For  she  is  just  right  in  my  eyes."  Some  inter- 
preters think  the  original  implies  something  more  than 
she  was  agreeable  to  his  fancy.  Possibly  it  may  mean, 
that  he  was  moved  by  the  Lord  to  this  alliance,  seeing 
that  it  would  furnish  a  proper  occasion  for  him  to  begin 
his  deliverances.  The  Hebrew  YASHAR,  may  mean  not 
only  that  she  was  beautiful,  fascinating  in  his  eyes,  but 
also  that  she  was  fit,  right,  appropriate  in  regard  to  the 
great  work  which  he  had  to  accomplish.  It'  this  sense 
be  adopted  here,  then  Samson  was  prophet  enough  to 
understand  the  popular  doctrine  of  availability.  He  had 
regard  to  an  ulterior  and  higher  purpose  than  gratifying 
his  taste.  This  does  not  necessarily  imply,  however, 
that  he  did  not  love  this  woman.  Prudence  and  affec- 


SAMSON'S  PARADOXES  BEGIN.  157 

tion  may  coexist.  Nor  do  I  see  anything  wrong  in  his 
making  his  love  for  this  woman  subservient  to  the  great 
patriotic  mission  for  which  Providence  had  raised  him 
up.  But  surely  it  was  a  strange  beginning.  The  prom- 
ised deliverer  of  Israel  takes  a  wife  from  their  hereditary 
enemies.  But  was  not  this  a  fair  prologue  to  the  rest  of 
his  life  ?  He  was  a  man  of  paradoxes. 

We  do  not  wonder  that  his  pious  parents  were  aston- 
ished at  his  wish  to  take  a  Philistine  woman  to  wife. 
They  were  national  enemies.  And  the  angel  had  said 
he  should  deliver  Israel.  They  would  therefore  natur- 
ally inquire,  how  is  this  ?  Is  our  deliverance  to  begin 
with  an  alliance  ?  We  are  not  to  touch  anything  unclean ; 
our  child  is  a  Nazarite;  and  yet  he  wishes  to  marry  a 
heathen  !  This  is  the  beginning  of  the  riddle.  Js  there 
never  a  woman  among  tJiy  brethren  ?  is  the  natural  inquiry 
of  such  a  father  and  mother.  As  he  was  so  especially 
consecrated  to  God,  it  must  have  seemed  peculiarly 
improper  for  him  to  make  such  an  alliance.  But  Sam- 
son was  not  in  a  reasoning  mood.  His  love  for  the  Philis- 
tine maid  was  as  ardent  as  his  strength  was  great.  The 
brave  love  heroically.  As  a  good  son,  he  consults  his 
parents,  and  asks  their  approbation ;  but,  then  as  is  too 
often  the  case,  he  pressed  his  own  desires  too  obstinately. 
When  his  parents  remonstrated  against  such  an  alliance, 
he  replied  to  his  father,  saying,  Get  her  for  me,  for  she 
pleaseth  me  well.  Still,  let  us  not  forget  that  he  did  con- 
sult his  parents.  This  showed  his  regard  for  them  and 
for  the  law  of  God.  Before  he  paid  his  addresses  to  the 
young  woman,  or  said  anything  to  her  parents,  he  laid 
the  affair  before  his  own  parents.  As  yet  his  marrying 
was  not  a  foregone  conclusion.  Thus  far  he  is  a  noble 


158  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

example  for  all  young  persons.  Doubtless  there  would 
be  many  more  happy  marriages,  if  pious  parents  were 
more  reverentially  consulted,  and  if  such  unions  were 
more  generally  formed  with  due  regard  to  the  divine  will. 
Obedience  to  God  in  marrying  as  well  as  in  other  things 
is  the  way  of  happiness. 

In  seeking  a  Philistine  wife,  even  in  the  most  favora- 
ble light  we  can  take  of  the  affair,  Samson  was  treading 
on  doubtful  and  dangerous  ground.  Their  law  expressly 
forbade  the  Israelites  to  marry  among  those  nations  that 
were  cursed  and  devoted  to  destruction.  It  does  not 
appear,  however,  that  the  Philistines  were  numbered 
among  the  doomed  Canaanites.  They  were  of  Egyptian 
origin.  The  spirit  of  the  Hebrew  law,  however,  was 
plainly  against  such  alliances,  for  the  Philistines  were 
idolaters  and  foreigners.  It  is  true  the  law  that  forbade 
an  Israelite  to  marry  a  heathen,  was  a  ceremonial  law,  or 
a  police  law — one  that  related  to  their  national  policy. 
It  was  not  one  of  the  laws  of  the  Decalogue.  It  was  not 
a  moral  law.  It  might  therefore  be  changed,  or  sus- 
pended. 

In  what  sense  was  it  of  the  Lord  that  he  sought  the 
Timnite  damsel  for  a  wife  as  an  occasion  against  the 
Philistines  ?  It  is  seldom  the  sacred  writers  give  rea- 
sons for  what  they  record,  but  the  fourth  verse  seems  to 
be  parenthetical,  and  designed  to  explain  why  Samson's 
parents  declined  consenting  to  this  marriage.  It  is 
clearly  implied  that  if  they  had  known  that  this  was 
God's  will,  they  would  at  once  have  acquiesced.  They 
did  agree  to  go  with  him  to  Timnath,  as  we  find  from  the 
following  verse,  to  see  more  about  the  matter,  and  finally 
gave  their  consent.  Some  think  they  went  with  Samson 


SAMSON'S  MARRYING  FANCY.  159 

because  he  told  them  plainly  his  motives,  or  that  in  some 
way,  they  understood  the  thing  was  of  the  Lord.  But 
if  the  divine  prohibition  against  such  an  alliance  was 
repealed  for  the  time,  making  for  special  reasons  his  case 
an  exception,  how  is  it  that  the  historian  does  not  inform 
us  of  this  fact  ?  Why  does  not  Samson  tell  his  parents 
that  the  law  is  repealed  in  this  case  ?  There  is  not  even 
a  hint  of  any  such  thing.  The  statement  that  this  alli- 
ance was  of  the  Lord  does  not  excuse  Samson  from  all 
responsibility.  The  match  was  of  his  own  seeking.  He 
acted  as  a  free  agent  in  going  down  to  Timnath.  He 
was  not  carried  there  by  angels,  nor  did  God  miracu- 
lously excite  his  love  towards  the  Philistine  dame.  But 
God,  seeing  Samson's  choice,  determined  to  bring  good 
out  of  it — he  determined  that  his  attachment  to  a  Phi- 
listine woman  should  be  overruled,  so  as  to  be  the  occa- 
sion of  his  beginning  to  deliver  Israel.  Some  are  even 
ready  to  believe  that  Samson  feigned  an  attachment  to 
this  woman,  and  only  designed  from  the  beginning  to 
make  an  occasion  or  get  an  excuse  for  attacking  the 
Philistines.  This  is  not  consistent  with  the  original. 
His  love  for  her  Avas  sincere,  but  doubtless  he  desired 
also  to  avenge  himself  and  his  countrymen  upon  her 
people  as  soon  as  a  fit  opportunity  should  occur. 

That  it  was  of  the  LORD,  that  he  sought  an  occasion 
against  the  Philistines,  does  not  make  God  the  author  of 
it.  Samson  was  permitted  to  exercise  his  own  free 
will,  and  to  follow  his  fancy  in  choosing  a  wife,  and  God 
in  the  exercise  of  free  agency  and  sovereignty,  made 
his  choice  subservient  to  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise 
made  to  his  mother,  that  he  should  begin  to  deliver 
Israel  from  the  hands  of  the  Philistines.  The  Philistines 


162  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

and  what  his  own  propensity  moved  him  to  do.  Think 
yon,  that  he  prayed  to  God  to  direct  him  as  to  the  pre- 
cise method  of  his  procedure  against  the  Philistines,  or 
being  persuaded  that  it  was  the  divine  will  for  him  to 
seek  a  quarrel  with  them,  did  he  trust  to  his  own  judg- 
ment as  to  the  means  ;  and  in  the  meantime  concludes 
that  he  will  find  the  occasion  of  the  quarrel  in  gratifying 
his  passion  for  a  Philistine  maid  ?  It  is  certainly  true 
that  men  sometimes  so  deceive  themselves,  that  they 
pray  for  guidance  from  the  Lord,  while  at  the  same  time, 
their  course  is  fixed.  In  their  own  hearts  what  they 
will  do  is  a  foregone  conclusion.  They  pray  for  the 
divine  will  to  be  done,  and  do  their  own  will.  They  pray 
for  light  to  follow  providence,  and  rise  from  their  knees 
and  go  straightway  out  to  lead  providence.  They  bow 
their  knees  before  God,  but  not  their  souls.  And  regard- 
ing iniquity  in  their  hearts,  their  prayers  are  not  heard. 
TV  hate  ver  it  does  or  does  not  mean,  the  fourth  verse  can- 
not teach  that  God  prompted  Samson  to  transgress.  God 
cannot  tempt  any  man  to  evil. 

For  at  that  time  the  Philistines  had  dominion  over 
Israel.  What  is  the  force  here  of  the  illative  for  ?  In 
some  sense  it  certainly  expresses  the  idea  that  Samson 
was  moved  to  find  a  pretext  for  avenging  his  people  on 
their  enemies.  Schmid,  and  some  others,  understand  it 
thus :  the  Philistines,  by  the  art  of  war,  were  the  con- 
querors;  they  had  dominion  over  the  Israelite.-,  and  it 
was  not  right  for  them  to  rebel  against  existing  power, 
unless  some  fresh  overt  act  of  oppression  was  committed. 
The  idea,  then,  is,  that  though  suffering  under  a  tyranny, 
yet  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  have  a  just  r;iu.-e  for 
endeavoring  to  shake  off  the  yoke ;  and  that  it  would 


CAUSES    OF    THE    REVOLUTION.  1 G3 

have  been  unlawful  for  them  to  rise  against  their  con- 
querors without  such  a  cause.  Our  fathers  of  the  Rev- 
olution of  17 7 G,  sought  diligently  to  justify  their  Declar- 
ation of  Independence  and  separation  from  the  mother 
country,  by  stating  to  the  whole  world  their  reasons. 
They  recited  the  acts  of  the  Imperial  Parliament  that 
were  unlawful,  unjust,  and  oppressive.  They  had 
sought  repeatedly,  and  in  various  ways,  for  redress,  but 
in  vain.  They  were  spurned  from  the  throne,  and  their 
only  hope  was  in  revolution.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
revolution  of  1G88.  It  is  unquestionably  true  that  the 
Bible  is  very  strong  against  insubordination  and  rebel- 
lion. But  I  have  yet  to  see  the  proof  that  it  enjoins, 
absolutely  and  unconditionally,  the  duty  of  passive  obe- 
dience. The  danger  of  our  times,  however,  is  all  in  the 
contrary  direction.  In  Samson's  case  there  is  at  least 
the  appearance  of  singular  prudence  and  moderation  ; 
"  that  although  he  had  ample  grounds  in  the  divine  com- 
mission implied  in  the  very  fact  of  his  being  raised  up 
and  set  apart  as  a  national  deliverer,  yet,  to  avoid  offense, 
he  will  not  undertake  the  work  till  a  just  and  legitimate 
cause  of  war  occurs." 

In  verses  five,  six,  and  seven,  we  have  the  first  display 
of  our  hero's  miraculous  strength.  His  parents  at  first 
objected  to  the  match,  but  afterwards  went  down  with 
him  to  Timnath,  either  hoping  that  something  would 
occur  on  the  way,  or  when  they  should  arrive,  by  which 
they  could  divert  him  from  his  purpose ;  or  they  went 
in  his  behalf  to  arrange  for  the  wedding.  Substantially 
this  is  the  manner  of  conducting  such  affairs  still'  in  the 

•  <~j 

East.  Sometimes  the  proposal  is  made,  however,  in  a 
different  style.  A  young  fellow  says  to  a  father,  such 


164  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

another  father  will  give  so  much  with  his  daughter,  how 
much  will  you  give  if  I  may  marry  yours?  Ordinarily 
all  such  negotiations  are  carried  on  by  the  parents  of  the 
young  people.  The  leading  idea  is  of  bargain  and  sale. 
The  dower  or  the  purchase  money  has  more  influence 
than  the  affection  of  the  parties,  or  their  fitness  to  make 
each  other  happy. 

Among  the  aborigines  of  the  southern  States,  and 
perhaps  the  same  custom  obtains  all  over  the  continent, 
when  a  man  wants  a  wife  he  does  not  make  the  applica- 
tion in  person,  but  sends  his  sister,  or  mother,  or  some 
other  female  relative,  to  the  relations  of  the  young 
woman  he  desires  for  a  wife.  They  consult  the  male 
relations,  and  if  they  approve  they  give  a  favorable 
answer.  The  bridegroom  then  sends  a  blanket,  and  such 
other  articles  of  clothing  as  he  is  able,  to  the  females  of 
the  family  of  the  bride.  If  they  accept  this  present,  the 
match  is  made.  And  when  he  has  made  a  crop  and 
gathered  it,  and  made  the  season's  hunt,  and  brought 
home  the  meat,  and  put  all  this  into  his  wife's  hands,  the 
marriage  ceremony  ends,  and  she  is  bound  as  his  wife. 
(  See  White's  statistics  and  description  of  Georgia,  p. 
29.) 

As  his  father  and  mother  were  on  their  way  down  to 
Timnath,  Samson  goes  aside  into  the  vineyards  belong- 
ing to  the  town,  probably,  says  Henry,  to  gather  grapes; 
bul  another,  more  poetically  inclined,  says  Samson  wished 
"to  gain  the  pleasure  of  a  lonely  thought."  ]>ut  he  h.nl 
neither  the  pleasure  of  a  lonely  thought,  nor  of  out  ing 
grapes,  for  "a  young  lion  came  and  roared  agninst  him." 

I  believe  this  is  the  lirst,  but  certainly  not  the  last  time 
allusion  is  made  in  the  Bible  to  lions.  In  the  subsequent 


THE    LIONS    OF    THE    BIBLE.  165 

books  of  the  Bible  they  are  frequently  mentioned  as  be- 
ing found  in  Palestine  and  adjacent  countries.  In  the 
life  of  David,  and  in  the  history  of  the  exploits  of  his 
mighty  men,  they  are  several  times  mentioned.  On  a 
snowy  day  one  of  his  worthies  killed  two  lions  in  a  pit. 
The  disobedient  prophet  was  killed  by  a  lion ;  and  the 
overflowings  of  the  Jordan  drove  lions  from  their  hiding 
places  in  the  thickets  on  its  banks.  Historically  the  proof 
is  strong  that  lions  were  numerous  in  ancient  times  in 
Asia  Minor.  They  live  to  be  old,  and  multiply  rapidly. 
It  is  true,  however,  that  but  few  if  any  are  to  be  found 
there  at  the  present  time.  The  monks  of  Mount  Sinai 
told  me,  in  1851,  that  lions  still  prowled  through  the 
sandy  plains,  and  over  the  mountains  of  the  peninsula. 
But  even  if  not  a  single  lion  could  now  be  found  in  west- 
ern Asia,  the  text  may  be  true ;  for  numerous  instances 
can  be  ^eited  of  the  disappearing  of  wild  beasts  from 
countries  where  they  were  once  numerous.  The  hippo- 
potamus was  once  on  the  lower  Nile,  but  is  not  there 
now.  The  Lotus  is  believed  to  have  been  a  native  of 
India,  but  flourished  a  long  time  on  the  Nile,  and  then 
disappeared. 

The  slabs,  cylinders,  walls,  columns,  and  tombs  of  the 
ruins  of  Chaldea,  Assyria,  and  Egypt  prove  that  lions 
were  well  known  in  ancient  times.  Hunting  lions  and 
killing  lions  is  often  represented.  They  are  found  still 
on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  the  Euphrates,  and  in  the 
Syrian  deserts.  Our  engraving  copied  from  Loftus* 
work  on  Susiana,  and  from  a  clay  tablet  of  Sinkara, 
proves  that  such  encounters  were  not  unknown  in 
ancient  times.  In  this  tablet  we  have  a  picture  of  an 
almost  every  day  occurrence  among  the  ancient  Chalde- 


16G 


THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 


ans.  Here  we  see  a  lion  disturbed  in  his  feast  on  a  bul- 
lock, by  a  man  armed  with  a  club  and  hatchet.  The 
lion  roaring  and  lashing  his  tail,  with  mane  erect,  is  ex- 
tremely spirited.  This  clay  tablet,  which  we  take  from 
Mr.  Loftus'  volume,  dates  back  almost  to  the  days  of  the 
Judges,  and  was  found  not  a  thousand  miles  from  Tim- 
natli.  I  do  not  say  this  tablet  is  a  picture  of  Samson, 


COPY    OF    CLAY    TABLET    FROM    SIXKAEA. 


but  we  have  only  to  suppose  that  the  man  represents 
Samson,  but  without  a  hatchet  and  club,  for  lie  had 
noticing  in  his  hands,  and  that  the  lion  was  disturbed  at 
his  breakfast  on  figs,  pomegranates,  and  grapes,  instead 
of  an  ox,  and  we  have  a  spirited  illustration  of  our  text. 
Then1  arc  at  least  seven  Hebrew  terms  signifying  a 
lion,  expressive  of  the  different  ages  of  that  animal. 
Kephirm  the  text  however,  signifies  a  young  lion  in  full 


SAMSON'S  GREAT  MODESTY.  1G7 

strength,  and  therefore  a  dangerous  adversary.  Samson 
seems  not  to  have  been  aware  of  his  presence  till  the 
very  moment  when  with  open  month  he  came  fiercely 
at  him  ready  to  devour  him.  As  the  lion  never  roars  in 
the  presence  of  an  enemy  except  when  ready  to  spring 
upon  him,  it  is  obvious  his  danger  was  imminent.  The 
lion  roared  against  him,  that  is,  was  about  to  seize  him 
and  tear  him  to  pieces.  Samson  was  now  twenty-two 
years  old,  but  it  was  not  in  his  own  strength  that  he  pre- 
vailed over  the  lion :  "  The  spirit  of  the  LORD  came 
mightily  upon  him,  and  he  rent  him  as  he  would  have 
rent  a  kid."  That  is,  supernatural  influence  excited  his 
body  and  his  mind  to  an  extraordinary  degree  of  energy. 
As  the  danger  was  immediate  and  extreme,  so  the  divine 
help  was  instantaneous.  This  adventure  was  singularly 
prophetic.  It  was  well  calculated  to  inspire  him  with 
courage,  and  to  awaken  faith  in  himself  and  in  God.  As 
the  king  of  beasts  was  as  weak  as  a  kid  in  the  sinewy 
arms  of  the  weaponless  hero,  and  his  body  soon  lay 
breathless  on  the  ground,  so  could  he  with  divine  assis- 
tance overcome  the  oppressors  of  his  people.  It  is 
remarkable  that  both  Samson  and  David  had  a  lion 
encounter  as  a  kind  of  preparation  for  their  conflict  with 
the  Philistines.  See  our  engraving  opposite  page  1G8, 
representing  Samson  in  the  act  of  rending  the  lion. 

But  he  told  not  his  father  or  his  mother  what  he  had  done. 
He  deemed  it  best  to  keep  to  himself  for  the  present 
this  evidence  of  God's  favor.  Perhaps  he  thought  if  he 
told  his  parents,  the  Philistines  might  hear  of  his  great 
strength,  and  be  more  on  their  guard  against  him.  He 
judged  it  best  not  to  arouse  their  jealousy  at  present. 
His  modesty  and  self-control  are  commendable.  In  rejoin- 


1G8  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

ing  his  parents  with  as  much  humility  and  composure  as 
if  he  had  not  performed  a  great  feat,  \ve  see  the  true 
hero.  He  was  as  modest  as  he  was  brave.  Great  talk- 
ers, noisy  boasters  are  seldom  good  for  any  thing  else. 
Such  was  Goliah  of  Gath,  but  the  victory  was  with  the 
modest  son  of  Jesse. 

Hall  suggests  that  if  Samson's  parents  had  been  behind 
the  hedge  witnessing  the  fight  with  the  lion,  they  would 
not  have  troubled  themselves  any  more  about  his  mar- 
riage. They  would  have  concluded  his  life  was  lost, 
for  what  could  an  unarmed  man  do  with  a  lion  in  his 
fury  ?  And  sure  enough,  if  the  tawny  adversary  had 
found  nothing  but  a  man's  strength  in  his  antagonist,  it 
had  been  an  easy  victory.  "  But  the  spirit  of  the  Lord 
came  upon  Samson."  And  now  "  if  his  bones  had  been 
brass  and  his  skin  plates  of  iron,"  it  would  have  been 
the  same  thing.  He  would  have  rent  him  as  if  he  had 
been  a  kid.  The  Creator  who  made  the  lions  stand  in 
awe  of  Adam,  Noah  and  Daniel,  could  easily  subdue 
this  one  before  the  giant  Hebrew.  Let  us  remember 
that  the  most  dangerous  lion  in  the  way  of  duty  is  not 
the  one  that  springs  upon  us  from  the  wayside,  but  the 
one  that  lives  within  us.  The  strongest  lion  we  have  to 
fight,  is  the  old  Adam  within. 

u  Deny  thyself,  and  take  thy  cross, 

Is  the  Kedeemer's  great  command  : 
Nature  must  count  her  gold  but  dross, 
If  she  would  gain  this  heavenly  laud. 

The  fearful  soul  that  tires  and  faints, 

And  walks  the  ways  of  Cod  no  more, 
Is  but  i->tccnicd  almost  a  saint, 

And  makes  his,  own  drstnictLon  sure." 


SAMSON  KILLING  THE  LION. 

Who  tore  the  lion,  as  the  lion  tears  the  kid."    Page  168. 


'fottfncss  flat  of  %  Strong. 


H 


M 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SWEETNESS  OUT  OF  THE  STRONG. 

"  But  one  sad  losel  soils  a  name  for  aye.'11 — Childe  Harold. 

THE  fourteenth  chapter  of  Judges  opens  with  an 
engagement  of  marriage.  We  are  now  going  to  the  wed- 
ding, but  on  our  way  we  have  meat  out  of  the  eater  and 
sweetness  out  of  the  strong.  We  are  now  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  end.  After  a  time  Samson  returns  to  take 
the  woman  of  Timnath  to  wife.  The  Hebrew  here  signi- 
fies after  some  days,  probably  after  a  year.  For  it  was 
the  custom  of  those  days  in  the  East,  as  it  is  still,  for  ten 
or  twelve  months  to  elapse  between  the  betrothment  and 
the  marriage.  During  this  time  the  espoused  wife 
remained  with  her  parents  preparing  her  dresses  and 
ornaments  for  the  wedding.  Thus  Samson  went  down 
with  his  parents,  and  the  engagement  was  made,  and  now 
he  returns  to  be  married.  And  on  his  way  as  he  passes 
the  vineyards  where  he  had  killed  the  lion,  he  turns  aside 
to  see  the  carcass,  and  behold  it  was  full  of  bees  and 
honey.  His  astonishment  at  finding  the  lion's  carcass 
thus  replenished  is  well  represented  in  our  wood  cut. 
Though  Samson  was  not  a  "  word-doughty  knight,"  he 


172  THE    GIAXT    JUDGE. 

vats  a  close  observer.  He  kept  thinking  of  past  provi- 
dences although  he  was  on  his  way  to  his  wedding.  The 
motives  that  prompted  him  to  turn  aside  to  see  the  lion's 
rurcass  are  not  stated.  But  in  pondering  his  ways  as  he 
v,  as  going  to  Timnath,  it  Avas  natural  that  the  sight  of 
(lie  vineyards  where  God  had  delivered  him  out  of  the 
j'OAver  of  the  lion,  should  have  excited  his  gratitude.  It 
was  well  that  a  sense  of  God's  goodness  revived  within 
him.  The  dangers  we  have  escaped  should  not  be  for- 
gotten. When  we  are  bereaved,  Ave  should  be  careful 
not  to  lose  the  benefits  designed  by  forgetting  the  hand 
I  hat  afflicts  ;  and  when  God  preserves  our  friends  or  raises 
us  up  from  threatened  death,  surely  thankfulness  should 
iill  our  hearts.  All  God's  mercies  —  all  his  providences 
to  us  should  be  monuments  of  our  gratitude. 

1.  Some   raise  a  difficulty  here  by  saying  that   the 
honey  of  the  ancients  was  the  expressed  juice  of  dates. 
This  may  be  true  of  some  of  their  honey,  but  surely  it 
is  not  denied  that  honey  bees  are  as  old  as  Moses.     The 
Hebrew  name   for  bees  is  from  a  root  that  signifies  to 
ride,  to  speak,  to  lead,  and  was  probably  given  to  them 
because  of  the  perfection  of  their  government.     And  he 
took  thereof  in  his  hands,  implies  according  to  the  orig- 
inal, that  he  wrested  the  honey  from  the  bees- -that  he 
had  to  fight  with  them  to  get  it.     And  he  gave  of  the 
honey-comb  to  his  parents  ;  but  said  nothing  to  them  as 
to  where  and  how  he  had  obtained  it. 

2.  Some  confusion  is  found  in  ancient  authors  about 
the  liking  or  disliking  of  bees  for  dead  bodies.     A  gen- 
eral opinion  once   prevailed   among   the    heathen    that 
honey  bees  were  generated  in  carcasses.     1  Y/y//7  is  quoted 
for  such  an  opinion.     "  But  here,"  says  he,  "  they  behold 


HONEY    IX    THE    LION'S    CARCASS. 


a  sudden  prodigy,  and  wondrous  to  relate,  bees  thro  up; ; 
all  the  belly,  hum  amid  the  putrid  bowels  of  the  cat;:.-, 
pour  forth  with  the  fermenting  juices  from  the  bu     . 
sides,  and  in  immense  clouds  roll   along  ;  then  swa.  .1 
together  on  the  top  of  a  tree,  and  hang  down  in  a  cli;  - 
ter  from  the  bending  boughs."      Varro  is  quoted  for    ; 
directly  contrary  opinion.     He  says,  "the  bee  never  pi,., 
down  in  an  unclean  place,  or  upon  anything  that  em" 
an   unpleasant   smell.     They  are  never  seen   like  fl  !•.•., 
feeding  on  blood  or  flesh  ;  while  wasps  and  hornets  ;   i 
delight  in  such  food,  the  bee  never  touches  a  dead  bo  !  . 
So  much  do  they  dislike  an  impure  smell,  that  when  o..  > 
of  them  dies,  the  survivors  immediately  carry  out  ;..,• 
carcass  from  the  hive,  that  they  may  not  be  annoyed    - 
the  effluvia."     And  Aristotle  says:  "The  bee  will   ;-.  > 
alight  upon  a  dead  carcass,  nor  taste  the  flesh." 

It  is  not  our  business  to  harmonize  Aristotle,  Var. .;. 
and  Virgil,  nor  to  settle  the  dispute  among  their  lean; 
scholiasts.     It  maybe  that  these  contradictory  opimo 
have  arisen  from  vague  traditions  concerning  Sam  < 
bees.     It  is  a  well  known  historic  fact  that  directly  co  . 
tradictory  traditions   sometimes  flow  from   one  and   •:!.  • 
same  fountain. 

"All  errors  from  truth  proceed.11 

But  an  examination  of  the  text  does  not  decide  in  fuv..-r 
of  either  of  these   theories.     It  does  not  say  the  is  • 
were  generated  or  developed  in  the  lion's  carcass.     T:.   . \; 
was  "a  swarm  of  bees  and  honey  in  the  carcass  o!     ;.-; 
lion,"  but  it  is  not   said  the   bees  were  hatched  th<  :  >. 
Nor  is  it  said  that  the  lion  had  just  been  killed,  or 
the  flesh  was  putrid.     The   contrary  is  made  to  a< ;,;'.:/ 


174  THE  GIA:NT  JUDGE. 

from  the  statement,  that  it  was  "  after  a  time,  he  returned." 
It  must  have  been  as  we  have  shown  about  a  year  after 
the  lion  was  killed,  that  the  bees  were  found  in  its  skele- 
ton frame.  This  was  quite  time  enough,  for  the  birds 
and  beasts  of  prey  to  have  eaten  the  flesh  off  from  the 
bones,  and  for  the  hot  sun  and  parching  winds  of  Asia 
to  have  completely  dried  them.  Ants  and  vultures  also 
are  very  numerous  in  Asia,  and  may  have  helped  to 
prepare  the  carcass  for  the  bees.  The  traveller  over  the 
plains  of  this  side  of  our  continent  has  often  seen  lying 
on  the  road  side  the  bony  frame  of  an  ox  or  of  a  horse 
covered  with  a  whole  skin,  while  the  flesh  was  eaten  out, 
or  consumed,  leaving  quite  an  appropriate  place  for  a 
hive  of  bees.  I  do  not  see  that  there  was  anything 
more  offensive  to  the  delicate  sense  of  the  bee  in  the 
bare  bones  of  the  dried  frame  of  the  lion,  than  there  is 
in  the  elk  horn  chair  of  our  old  pioneer  (Mr.  Seth  Kin- 
man)  which  he  has  recently  presented  to  the  president 
of  the  United  States.  Nor  are  we  without  evidence  of 
bees  having  settled  themselves  in  a  human  skull  and  in 
tombs.  It  is  well  known  that  they  are  very  ingenious, 
and  can  accommodate  themselves  to  whatever  kind  of 
habitation  may  be  at  hand  wherever  they  are.  Hillocks, 
crevices  of  the  rocks  and  hollow  trees  and  holes  in  the 
earth  have  furnished  them  hiving  places.  Jonathan, 
David's  friend,  we  are  told  came  upon  a  bee-hive  in  the 
woods,  where  the  honey  comb  was  dropping  from  the 
trees  to  the  ground.  1  Sam.  xiv.  I  fancy  the  lion's 
dried  frame  was  a  place  very  much  to  their  liking.  It 
was  in  a  secluded  spot,  among  vines  and  flowers.  And 
the  dry  bones  saved  them  a  good  deal  of  scaffolding. 
Herodotus  says  positively  that  "  bees  have  swarmed  in 


HONEY    IS    GOOD    THOUGH    SWEET.  175 

dry  bones."  When  therefore  the  caviler  at  our  story 
has  settled  his  account  with  the  "  hoary  father  of  history," 
then  we  may  have  more  patience  to  talk  with  him  about 
his  objections  to  the  natural  history  of  the  Bible.  The 
supply  of  honey  was  another  proof  of  God's  providential 
interference,  and  should  have  taught  Samson  that  God's 
blessings  are  often  far  beyond  our  expectations.  He 
looked  to  see  the  skeleton  of  the  dead  lion,  and  behold 
it  was  full  of  honey. 

3.  In  vindicating  Samson  from  violating  his  vows 
in  taking  honey  from  the  carcass  of  the  lion,  we  must 
remember  that  honey  was  not  a  prohibited  article.  A 
Nazarite  might  use  it.  And  then,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  lion's  carcass  was  not  now  foul  or  unclean.  There 
was  no  legal  pollution  in  touching  the  bones  of  an  ani- 
mal bleached  by  the  winds  and  rains  of  twelve  months. 
Honey,  says  Hall,  is  honey  still,  though  in  a  dead  lion. 
And  though  accidentally  met  with,  and  found  in  a  place 
that  was  once  ceremonially  unclean,  it  was  not  to  be 
rejected.  The  grace  of  God  is  the  more  precious  if 
the  vessel  is  unworthy.  It  is  a  weak  device  of  the 
devil  to  persuade  us  to  neglect  the  honey,  because  we 
do  not  like  the  lion.  The  treasure  is  in  earthen  vessels, 
that  the  excellence  may  be  of  God,  and  not  of  man.  It 
is  sound  theology  as  well  as  common  sense,  to  receive 
and  enjoy  our  heavenly  Father's  gifts  with  thankfulness 
whenever  they  are  bestowed  upon  us.  Honey  is  not  to 
be  despised  because  it  is  sweet,  nor  the  light  because  it 
is  pleasant.  Religion  does  not  consist  in  making  every 
thing  sour  and  bitter.  It  is  God's  will  that  we  should 
be  happy,  and  rejoice  in  the  use  of  the  good  things  he 
gives  us.  But  it  is  a  sin  to  abuse  any  of  his  gifts. 


17G  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

So  his  father  went  down  unto  the  woman  :  and  Sam- 
son made  there  a  feast ;  for  so  used  the  young  men  to  do. 
They  are  married.  The  self-will  of  the  young  man 
prevails.  His  fancy  was  of  more  avail  than  anything 
else  in  the  universe.  Nor  are  we  without  similar  exam- 
ples among  our  every-day  sort  of  people.  The  ingre- 
dients are  just  the  same,  only  put  together  in  smaller 
quantities,  so  that  ordinary  men  are  without  the  charac- 
teristic intensity  of  Samson.  They  are  quite  as  guilty 
of  earthly  passions,  but  without  his  heroism.  But  here 
is  the  beginning  of  the  end.  Samson  married  is  Sam- 
son in  trouble.  The  bane  of  his  life  was  his  fondness 
for  Philistine  women.  But  is  this  a  reflection  on  God's 
institution  of  marriage  ?  Is  Samson's  unwise  choice  an 
argument  against  wedded  life  ?  By  no  means.  The 
abuse  of  a  good  thing  does  not  prove  that  it  is  really 
evil.  The  marvellous  Hebrew  is  now  in  bad  company. 
At  his  wedding 

"  He  gathered  revellers  from  far  and  near, 
The  heartless  parasites  of  present  cheer." 

His  wife  was  a  heathen.  She  had  not  been  brought  up 
in  the  ways  of  godliness.  She  had  never  studied  Sam- 
son's catechism,  nor  offered  sacrifices  to  the  God  of 
Abraham,  as  he  had  done,  and  as  his  parents  had  done 
before  him.  There  was  no  community  of  feeling  be- 
tween them.  On  every  subject  there  was  a  want  of 
sympathy.  He  was  a  Hebrew,  she  was  a  Philistine. 
He  worshipped  Jehovah,  she  worshipped  Dagon.  In 
politics  and  religion  they  were  altogether  antagonistic — 
irreconcilably  so.  There  was  no  evidence  indeed  that 
she  had  any  fancy  for  him.  Her  wishes  seem  not  to 


SAMSON  FINDING   HONEY. 

"And  on  his  way  as  he^passed  the  vineyard  where  he  had  killed  the  lion, 
he  turns  aside  to  see  the  carcass,  and  behold  it  was  full  of  bees  and  honey." 
1'a.^c  170. 


PIETY  A   WOMAN'S  <;I.OKY.  177 

have  been  considered  at  all.  Nor  doe.-  slie  seem  to 
have  had  anything  to  say  in  the  matter.  It  is  strange 
that  Samson  should  have  been  so  fixed  on  marrying  a 
woman  without  any  true  religion.  Piety  is  woman's 
highest  beauty  and  greatest  protection.  A  man  without 
religion  is  bad  enough — a  poor  reprobate  without  peace  ; 
but  a  womnn  without  religion  is  still  more  revolting. 
She  is  "a  flame  without  heat;  a  flower  without  per- 
fume." Amid  all  the  trials,  storms  and  tribulations  of 
this  world,  without  religious  faith,  she  is  "  a  drift  and  a 
wreck."  Who  that  has  ever  experienced  the  swreet 
truthfulness  and  abiding  love  of  a  godly  mother,  or  a 
pious  wife,  or  a  "  sister  dear,"  whose  being  is  in  her 
brother's  and  in  her  devotion  to  her  heavenly  Father, 
can  fail  to  appreciate  the  worth  of  piety  in  woman  ? 
Let  us  have  irreligion  anywhere  else  rather  than  in  our 
mothers,  wives  and  sisters.  They  are  our  guardian 
angels,  and  if  they  become  ministers  of  evil,  all  men 
are  lost. 

It  is  only  where  the  altars  of  family  worship  rise 
amid  tliv}  toils  of  trade  and  art,  and  the  hearth-stone 
glows  with  domestic  love,  that  we  expect  a  permanently 
prosperous  community. 

So  vastly  important  is  this  whole  subject — important 
in  a  social  and  patriotic  point  of  view,  as  well  as  from 
a  Christian  stand-point — that  I  dwell  here  a  little  by 
way  of  illustration,  on  the  Influence  of  marrying  and  of 
married  life  in,  France.  And  I  do  so  the  more,  because 
it  has  not  received  the  attention,  in  my  humble  opinion, 
that  it  deserves.  The  statesman  and  historian,  M. 
Thiers,  in  his  history  of  the  French  Revolution,  ex- 
pressfs  the  belief  that  the  corruptions  and  troubles  of 


H* 


THE    GIANT    .J 


France  are  to  be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  her  women 
during  and  subsequent  to  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  lie 
considers  it  the  great  misfortune  of  France  that  at  the 
period  of  the  Revolution,  all  the  Bourbons  of  France, 
Naples  and  Spain  were  under  the  influence  of  their 
wives  and  mistresses,  who  were  not  the  women  for  their 
times.  It  is  a  curious  and  highly  suggestive  fact,  that 
from  1789  to  the  present  time,  it  lias  been  necessary  to 
reduce  the  mini  in  tun  height  for  enlistment  in  the  troops 
of  the  line  of  France.  In  1789  it  was  Jirc  feet  one 
inch  French  measure.  After  twenty-five  years  of  con- 
stant war  —  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  the  tninunnni 
was  reduced  to  less  than  four  feet  ten  indies  ;  and  in 
1830,  to  four  feet  nine  inches.  And  during  the  reign 
of  Louis  Philippe  it  was  again  reduced.  And  if  tin- 
same  stature  of  the  armies  of  Louis  XYi.  were  required 
for  the  soldiers  of  Louis  Napoleon  111.,  more  than  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men  would  have  to  be 
dismissed  from  the  line. 

These  statements  are  chiefly  taken  and  abridged  from 
the  North  British  Review  for  1857.  They  are  abun- 
dantly corroborated,  however,  by  the  current  reports  of 
France  on  the  subject,  and  by  the  English  Reviews  for 
the  years  1856  and  1857  generally.  In  the  years  from 
1831  to  1837,  504,000  youths  were  admitted,  and 
159,1  MM)  rejected  from  the  army  of  France,  because  of 
physical  defects.  And  for  the  next  six  years,  from 
1839  to  1845,  the  deterioration  was  even  greater  —  only 
486,000  were  admitted  against  191.000  rejected.  As 
we  read  history,  it  is  clear  that  the  Copts,  (ireeks,  Ital- 
ians and  Spaniards  as  races  have  deteriorated  ;  while 
the  Germans,  the  Russians  and  the  Anglo-Saxon,  that  is 


WHAT  FRANCE  AVANTS.  179 

the  British,  Irish,  Scotch  and  Americans  are  still  vig- 
orous and  advancing  in  poAver  as  nations.  But  how  is 
it  with  France  ?  Her  emperor  at  present  gives  law 
to  Europe.  The  French  are  a  most  extraordinary  peo- 
ple. We  are  prepared  to  give  to  them  the  full  meed  of 
fame  to  which  they  are  entitled.  In  many  things  they 
are  emphatically  a  most  wonderful  people.  But  as  a 
nation,  their  own  statistics  show  they  are  not  adA^ancing 
in  the  same  ratio  as  their  neighbors  on  the  continent 
beyond  the  Rhine,  nor  across  the  channel.  At  the  head 
of  the  civilization  and  political  poAver  of  the  age,  hoAV 
is  it  that  their  own  army  reports  show  such  a  marked 
deterioration  in  their  physical  man  ?  I  seek  not  at 
present  any  further  solution  of  this  question,  than  to 
look  at  it  from  a  moral  and  religious  point  of  ATiew. 
And  the  explanation  is  found  in  the  words  of  one  of  her 
own  great  statesmen :  France  wants  religion.  Yes, 
France  has  consumed  her  ATital  energies.  She  has 
exhausted  herself  for  glory.  Like  lands  forced  to  ex- 
traordinary fruitfulness  until  they  are  so  consumed  that 
even  chemical  appliances  can  no  longer  bring  forth  the 
harvest.  Wars  and  the  loss  of  life  and  energy,  and  the 
consumption  of  the  healthy  subsistence  of  the  people  by 
an  enormous  army,  explains  in  part  this  exhaustion. 
But  the  cause  is  higher  still- -lies  deeper  still.  It  is 
found  in  a  disregard  of  the  la\vs  of  God  in  respect  to 
the  family.  In  France  the  sexual  passions  are  sub- 
sidized to  science,  and  licentiousness  is  governed  by  a 
philosophical  police,  "•  and  in  Paris  one  child  in  eATery 
three  is  born  out  of  wedlock." 

Though  the  social,  martial  and  intellectual  status  of 
France  may  at  this  moment  be  as  high  as  it  ever  was, 


180  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

yet  her  own  statistics  show  an  obvious  physical  deterio- 
ration. This  deterioration,  according  to  their  own  army 
figures,  has  been  going  on  regularly  for  almost  seventy 
years.  And  why  ?  Because  the  FAMILY  is  not  in 
France  what  the  Bible  teaches  us  it  should  be.  The 
Bible  does  not  govern  the  social  habits  of  the  French. 
The  Creator,  who  has  the  residue  of  spirits  in  his  hands, 
and  could  therefore  have  created  many  women  for  one 
man,  made  man  male  and  female.  "  And  wherefore 
one  ?  That  he  might  seek  a  godly  seed."  Mai.  ii :  15. 
The  all  wise  Creator  says,  also,  "  It  is  not  good  for  man 
to  be  alone."  These  ordinances  of  the  Supreme,  many 
of  our  philosophical  neighbors  disregard.  And  if  they 
do  not  claim  that  it  is  good  to  be  alone,  they  will  at  least 
be  free  from  the  virtuous  ties  of  the  family  relation. 
Our  idea  of  a  home  they  entertain  not.  They  live  on 
the  boulevards  and  in  the  restaurants.  Marriage  is 
either  never  contracted,  or  if  at  all,  late  in  life,  and  then 
few  children  are  desired,  and  even  these  few  are  brought 
up  by  hired  nurses.  And  the  very  causes,  moreover, 
that  lead  to  this  neglect  of  marriage  strongly  tend  to 
the  most  pernicious  physical  results.  The  unrestrained 
indulgence  of  lust  and  gaiety  are  so  expensive,  that  a 
lawful  family  cannot  be  supported  at  the  same  time ; 
and  besides,  such  indulgences  weaken  and  destroy  the 
constitution.  Samson  in  part  illustrates  our  position. 
He  had  no  children.  If  he  had  married  according  to 
the  usual  custom  of  his  country,  and  brought  up  a  family, 
he  would  have  been  a  far  better  citizen,  a  more  happy 
man,  and  not  have  come  to  a  violent  death. 

Politicians  and  philosophers  may  a  1  feet  to  smile  at  our 
simplicity  ;  but  from  the  lights  before  us,  it  is  palpable 


WOMAN'S  INFLUENCE  ON  SOCIETY.  181 

that  France  in  physical  stature  has  deteriorated,  while 
her  neighbors  of  different  social  habits  have  not,  and  in 
the  abuse  of  the  social  feelings  which  the  Creator  has 
ordained,  and  in  the  want  of  family  organizations  on 
Bible  principles,  we  find  causes  quite  sufficient  to  explain 
the  diminished  stature  and  physical  defects  of  her  masses. 
The  society  of  women  is  a  necessity  of  national  exist- 
ence, physically  and  morally.  If  "  a  man  discovered 
America,  it  was  a  woman  that  equipped  the  voyage." 
And  so  it  is  everywhere.  No  matter  who  it  is  that 
executes,  he  was  born  and  trained  by  a  woman.  Every 
Columbus  that  has  left  his  mark  in  the  world,  was  fur- 
nished by  his  Isabella  mother,  who  for  that  purpose  laid 
aside  her-  jewels,  it  may  be  her  personal  comforts,  cer- 
tainly her  vanities  and  time-consuming  fashions.  Writers 
on  the  penal  colonies  of  Great  Britain  tell  us  there  is 
but  little  hope  of  a  female  convict  unless  she  marries 
and  becomes  a  mother.  And  it  is  quite  as  well  known 
that  men  who  are  not  restrained  by  the  ties  of  home, 
and  the  influence  of  virtuous  women  are  almost  hope- 
less. The  intercourse  of  the  sexes  has  been  appointed 
by  the  Creator.  It  is,  then,  of  the  first  importance  to 
society  that  it  take  place  under  wise  regulations.  God's 
laws  cannot  be  improved.  Then  let  the  wedded  lamp 
burn  brightly  and  cheerfully  where  it  is  already  kindled  ; 
and  if  in  any  of  our  homes  it  has  grown  dim,  let  it  be 
relumed.  And  let  him  be  regarded  as  an  enemy  to 
God  and  man,  who  discourages  marriage  and  advocates 
celibacy,  or  who  corrupts  society  by  weakening  the 
bonds  of  the  family  which  God  hath  joined  together. 


Cjic  Mttoing  Pfole  aito  C 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE  WEDDING  RIDDLE  AND  TRAGEDY. 

"  Hail,  wedded  love,  mysterious  law,  true  source 
Of  human  offspring,  sole  propriety 
In  Paradise  of  all  things  common  else  : 
By  thee  adulterous  lust  was  driven  from  men, 
Among  the  beastial  herds  to  range ;  by  thee, 
Founded  in  reason,  loyal,  just,  and  pure, 
Relations  dear,  and  all  the  charities 
Of  father,  son,  and  bi-other  first  were  known. 
Perpetual  fountain  of  domestic  sweets — 
Here  love  his  golden  shafts  employs,  here  lights 
His  constant  lamp,  and  waves  his  purple  wings, 
Reigns  here  and  revels  ;  not  in  the  bought  smile 
Of  harlots,  —  loveless,  joyless,  unendeared, 
Casual  fruition;  nor  in  court-amours, 
Mixed  dance,  or  wanton  mask,  or  midnight  hall, 
Or  serenade,  which  the  starved  lover  sings 
To  his  proud  fair,  best  quitted  with  disdain." 

Milton. 

IN  the  last  chapter  we  went  down  to  Samson's  wedding. 
Let  us  stay  awhile  at  the  feast,  and  when  tired  of  flow- 
ing cups  and  sparkling  wit,  we  shall  have  one  of  those 
tragedies  that  marked  the  earlier  administrations  of  our 
giant  judge.  His  introduction  to  the  bench  was  scarcely 
less  distinguished  than  his  exit  from  it. 

"  So  his  father  went  down  unto  the  woman ;  and 
Samson  made  there  a  feast ;  for  so  used  the  young  men 
to  do. 


186  THE    GIAXT    JUDGE. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  saw  him,  that  they 
brought  thirty  companions  to  be  with  him." 

His  father  did  not  go  alone  ;  but  as  the  head  (  Sheikh  ) 
of  the  family,  leading  them  to  the  wedding,  he  alone  is 
mentioned.  The  Chaldaic  version  has  the  sense  of  the 
passage  exactly  :  "  Went  down  relative  to  the  affair  of 
the  woman."  The  thirty  companions,  under  the  pretense 
of  friendship,  were  really  spies.  Many  of  the  courtesies 
of  the  world,  as  well  as  of  politicians,  are  hollow  and 
thankless.  "  Open  defiance  is  better  than  false  love." 

It  was  the  duty  of  these  "  children  of  the  bridegroom," 
as  his  "  friends,"  to  make  the  company  happy.  The 
chief  one  was  called  "  the  governor  of  the  feast,"  as  we 
see  in  the  marriage  in  Cana  of  Galilee.  Such  was  the 
condition  of  the  Hebrews  at  this  time,  that  their  oppres- 
sors would  naturally  be  suspicious  of  any  Hebrew  of 
such  noble  bearing  and  prestige  as  Samson.  The  Phi- 
listines were  probably  somewhat  acquainted  with  his 
conduct  in  the  camp  of  Dan,  and  would  watch  him 
closely,  even  at  his  marriage  feast. 

1.  I  do  not  see  anything  wrong  in  Samson  making  a 
feast,  as  the  young  men  used  to  do.  It  belonged  to  the 
bride  and  her  friends  to  say  what  its  details  should  be. 
In  so  far,  then,  as  he  could  comply  with  the  customs  of 
her  people,  without  sinning,  we  find  no  fault.  We  may 
concede  prejudices,  but  cannot  compromise  a  duty.  We 
may  surrender  our  likings,  profits,  or  preferences,  but 
we  may  not  surrender  a  principle.  And  1  do  not  sec 
but  that  it  is  lawful  and  proper  to  conform,  in  things  not 
sinful,  to  the  customs  of  those  with  whom  we  live.  If 
in  the  marriage  feast  there  was  any  recognition  of  idols, 
or  heathenish  ceremonies,  then  Samson  did  wrong  to 


WOMAN'S  SOCIETY  REFINES.  187 

submit.  Some  commentators  so  understand  the  history, 
but  I  do  not  see  any  evidence  of  idolatrous  rites  in  the 
marriage  or  the  feast.  In  teaching  us  to  fear  God  and 
keep  his  commandments,  the  Bible  does  not  require  us 
to  be  proud,  mopish,  rude,  supercilious,  or  ill  behaved. 
In  becoming  a  Christian  a  man  does  not  cease  to  be  any 
the  less  a  gentleman.  The  want  of  genuine  politeness 
is  no  proof  of  true  religion. 

A  careful  examination  of  ancient  history  is  a  full  veri- 
fication of  the  customs  alluded  to  in  the  text.  The  Phi- 
listines, early  Egyptians,  and  ancient  oriental  nations, 
were  not  Turks  in  their  treatment  of  women.  They 
were  more  liberal  as  to  the  social  position  and  privileges 
of  their  females  than  modern  orientals  are.  Women,  in 
ancient  times,  mingled  with  the  men  at  their  feasts,  as 
they  do  now  with  us.  The  monuments  of  Egypt  prove 
this,  as  well  as  the  history  of  the  ancient  Chaldeans, 
Persians,  Greeks,  and  Romans.  Nor  can  it  be  shown, 
historically,  that  their  presence  was  a  disadvantage  — 
rather  the  reverse.  It  has  been  said  by  one  (  Thackeray  ) 
of  the  most  observing  of  men,  and  withal  a  great  humor- 
ist, and,  as  far  as  may  be,  removed  from  the  stupid  prose 
of  the  orthodox  pulpit,  that  "  all  men  who  avoid  female 
society  have  dull  perceptions,  and  are  stupid ;  or  have 
gross  tastes,  and  revolt  against  what  is  pure.  Your 
club  swaggerers,  who  are  sucking  the  butts  of  billiard 
cues  all  night,  call  female  society  insipid.  Poetry  is 
insipid  to  a  yokle ;  beauty  has  no  charms  for  a  blind 
man  ;  music  does  not  please  a  poor  beast,  who  does  not 
know  one  tune  from  another.  It  is  better  for  you  to 
pass  an  evening,  once  or  twice  a  week,  in  a  lady's  draw- 
ing room,  even  though  the  conversation  is  rather  slow, 


188  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

and  you  know  the  girl's  songs  by  heart,  than  in  a  club, 
tavern,  or  in  the  pit  of  a  theatre.  All  amusements  of 
youth  to  which  women  are  not  admitted,  rely  on  it, 
are  deleterious  in  their  nature."  Woman's  society  is 
necessary  to  correct  the  pride  and  selfishness  of  men,  for 
a  man  is  bound  to  be  respectful  to  a  lady.  And  it  is  a 
great  point  gained  for  elevating  a  man's  character,  and 
securing  his  good  morals,  when  he  is  compelled  to  feel 
that  there  is  somebody  besides  himself  whose  feelings 
and  tastes  are  to  be  consulted  —  somebody  besides  his 
lordly  self  to  whom,  he  must  be  respectful  and  attentive. 
It  is  well  known  that  men  are  better  behaved,  in  every 
respect,  when  restrained  by  woman's  refining  presence. 

The  same  customs  alluded  to  in  our  history  are  found 
still  in  the  East.  Islam  has  not  sensibly  affected  the  usages 
of  the  Arabs,  Turks,  Hindoos,  Persians  or  Africans, 
except  where  some  peculiar  religious  rite  is  concerned. 
It  is  not  probable  that  the  institutes  of  Moses  made  the 
Hebrews  differ  from  their  Canaanite  neighbors  in  their 
general  customs  -  -  only  where  their  religion  prescribed 
a  difference.  Oriental  Christian  women — -in  Nazaivih 
and  Damascus  for  example  -  -  are  not  distinguished 
materially  from  mohammedan  women  in  their  dress  and 
social  habits.  Women  in  our  mission  churches  in 
mohammedan  countries,  are  separated  from  the  men  by 
a  wall  or  screen  when  at  worship. 

2.  At  weddings  it  was  common  to  have  games,  riddles, 
and  the  like  amusements. 

"  And  Samson  said  unto  them,  I  will  now  put  forth  a 
riddle  unto  you  :  if  ye  can  certainly  declare  it  me,  within 
the  seven  days  of  the  feast,  and  find  it  out,  then  I  will 
give  you  thirty  sheets  and  thirty  changes  of  garments. 


ANCIENT    CUP-QUESTIONS.  189 

"  But  if  ye  cannot  declare  it  me,  then  shall  ye  give  me 
thirty  sheets  and  thirty  changes  of  garments.  And  they 
said  unto  him,  put  forth  thy  riddle,  that  we  may  hear  it. 

"  And  he  said  unto  them,  Out  of  the  eater  came  forth 
meat,  and  out  of  the  strong  came  forth  sweetness." 

An  old  scholiast  on  Aristophanes  is  quoted  by  J)r. 
Clark,  as  saying  that  it  was  "  a  custom  among  the  ancient 
Greeks  to  propose,  at  their  festivals,  what  were  called 
griphoi,  riddles,  enigmas,  or  very  obscure  sayings,  both 
curious  and  difficult,  and  to  give  a  recompense  to  those 
who  found  them  out,  which  generally  consisted  either  in 
a  festive  crown,  or  a  goblet  full  of  wine.  Those  who 
failed  to  solve  them  were  condemned  to  drink  a  large 
portion',  of  fresh  water,  or  of  wine  mingled  with  sea 
water,  which  they  were  compelled  to  take  down  at  one 
draught,  without  drawing  their  breath,  their  hands  being 
tied  behind  their  backs.  Sometimes  they  gave  the  crown 
to  the  deity  in  honor  of  whom  the  festival  was  made ; 
and  if  none  could  solve  the  riddle/the  reward  was  given 
to  him  who  proposed  it." 

The  classics  abound  in  enigmas  proposed  at  such 
entertainments.  The  Greeks  excelled  in  them.  The 
solution  of  these  "  banquet-riddles,"  or  "  cup-questions," 
was  always  highly  applauded,  and  a  failure  implied  a 
forfeit.  Is  there  any  reason  why  the  Greeks  did  not 
borrow  from  Samson's  country,  by  the  way  of  Egypt? 
And  may  we  not  take  a  profitable  lesson  from  the 
ancients,  as  to  our  social  entertainments  ?  It  were  a 
much  better  way  to  spend  our  time  at  seasons  of  merry- 
making, in  expounding  enigmas  and  riddles,  than  in 
slandering  our  neighbors,  or  in  gluttony  or  excessive 
drink.  At  our  weddings  let  there  be  entertainment  for 


190  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

the  mind,  as  well  as  employment  for  the  palate  and  the 
heels.  It  is  something  to  avoid  all  foolish  talking  and 
vain  jestings,  and  all  filthiness  of  speech,  as  an  apostle 
enjoins ;  but  it  is  more  to  improve  the  time  for  gaining 
knowledge  and  strengthening  good  resolutions.  It  is 
surprising  how  intelligent  some  men  are  merely  from 
skill  in  conversation.  They  read  hardly  anything,  but 
from  being  associated  with  well  informed  persons,  and 
being  good  listeners,  and  skillful  in  asking  questions, 
they  acquire  a  vast  amount  of  useful  and  important 
information.  Our  social  habits  and  opportunities  should 
be  diligently  employed  in  doing  and  receiving  good. 

At  the  wedding  all  goes  on  merrily.  Sport  and  play 
are  in  the  ascendant.  The  cup-questions  were  as  spark- 
ling as  the  cups.  Many  were  the  passages  at  wit.  At 
last  Samson  is  aroused.  He  says  I  will  propose  a  rid- 
dle. He  pits  his  wit  against  the  whole  of  his  compan- 
ions. If  they  solve  his  riddle  he  is  to  pay  thirty  changes 
of  raiment.  If  they  failed,  they  are  to  pay  him  one 
change  of  raiment  apiece.  The  advantages  were  clearly 
on  their  side.  They  could  lose  but  one  change  each, 
while  he  puts  in  peril  thirty.  The  strong  and  the  great 
may  afford,  however,  to  be  generous,  but  Samson  had  an 
odd  humor  generally  of  putting  himself  against  great 
odds.  No  doubt  he  thought  himself  sure  of  victory. 
No  body  but  himself  knew  about  the  bees  and  the  honey. 
Why  should  he  not  win  ?  The  combination  of  incidents 
implied  in  his  riddle  was  certainly  rare,  if  indeed  they 
had  ever  been  found  before.  But  as  in  all  good  riddles, 
the  explanation  was  palpable,  beyond  di.-pute,  as  soon  as 
given.  It  was  like  Columbus'  solution  of  making  an  egg- 
stand  on  end  on  the  table.  As  usual  on  such  occasions, 


PRESSING    THE     SOLUTION.  191 

as  soon  as  the  riddle  was  propounded,  almost  every  one 
fancied  his  ingenuity  was  competent  for  the  solution. 
There  was  much  guessing,  and  many  knowing  looks 
among  the  guests.  But  the  meaning  still  eluded  their 
grasp.  Six  days  of  the  seven  during  which  the  solution 
must  be  given,  or  the  forfeit  incurred,  have  past.  Their 
pride  and  avarice  are  excited.  They  could  not  brook 
the  idea  of  being  defeated  by  a  young,  long-haired,  rough 
looking  Hebrew.  Nor  was  it  to  their  taste  to  part  with 
their  fine  wardrobes.  Nor  were  they  at  all  scrupulous 
as  to  the  means  they  might  employ.  They  were  shrewd 
enough  to  see  in  what  direction  Samson's  weakest  points 
lay.  Therefore  they  said  unto  his  wife,  "  Entice  thy 
husband,  that  he  may  declare  unto  us  the  riddle,  lest 
we  burn  thee  and  thy  father's  house  with  fire."  The 
alternative  was  not  a  very  appropriate  one  for  the  honey- 
moon. It  Avas  rather  rough  language  for  her  country- 
men to  use  if  she  did  not  get  them  out  of  this  difficulty. 
They  do  not  seem  to  have  had  any  regard  for  the  inno- 
cence of  those  they  were  ready  to  destroy — no  regard 
for  human  life.  It  may  be  that  much  more  may  have 
been  said  and  done  than  appears  from  the  record.  Surely 
such  an  appeal  would  not  have  been  made  even  by  Phil- 
istines, to  a  young  bride,  unless  the  case  was  deemed  a 
desperate  one.  Nor  can  I  think,  that  even  a  Philistine 
wife  would  betray  her  newly  acquired  husband  in  a 
moment  and  for  a  slight  cause.  Her  countrymen  must 
have  been  very  urgent.  They  must  at  first  have  been 
indignantly  repulsed,  and  have  often  appealed  to  her 
patriotism,  and  love  for  her  kindred,  before  she  could 
have  entertained  their  treacherous  proposals,  and  yielded 
at  last  under  the  pressure  of  their  cruel  threatenings. 


192  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

3.  The  forfeit  was  thirty  sheets  and  thirty  change  of 
garments.  The  Hebrew  for  sheets  is  sedinim,  hence  the 
Greek  sindon,  fine  linen.  The  term  here  means  body 
garments,  dresses,  shirts  rather  than  sheets  —  probably 
garments  answering  to  the  kumja  and  kaftan  of  the 
Arabs.  The  kumja  is  the  shirt  that  hangs  down  outside 
of  the  drawers  to  the  knees.  The  kaftan  is  the  coat 
with  open  sleeves.  Others  think  the  sheets  of  the  text 
are  the  chaykes  of  the  Arabs  answering  very  nearly  to 
the  Scottish  highland  plaid.  The  marginal  reading 
shirts  is  in  this  case  the  better  translation.  For  how 
could  Samson  obtain  thirty  sheets  from  the  slain  Phil- 
istines of  Askelon?  They  were  from  home.  They 
can  hardly  be  supposed  to  have  brought  their  beds  with 
them.  Besides,  if  they  did,  each  one  would  have  had 
two  sheets,  and  Samson  need  not  to  have  killed  but  fifteen. 
But  he  killed  just  thirty,  to  obtain  thirty  shirts  and  thirty 
changes  of  garments. 

"  And  he  went  down  to  Askelon,  and  slew  thirty  men 
of  them,  and  took  their  spoil,  and  gave  change  of  gar- 
ments unto  them  which  expounded  the  riddle." 

Their  spoil,  or  apparel  —  the  garments  they  had  on, 
including  shirts  and  cloaks,  though  not  here  expressly 
mentioned.  He  obtained  from  them  what  he  needed  to 
pay  his  forfeit.  It  may  be  after  all  these  shirts  were  the 
flowing  robes  of  persons  of  quality.  It  is  highly  proba- 
ble the  men  whom  Samson  slew  were  men  of  rank,  and 
if  such  their  garments  were  full  and  costly.  Isaiah  uses 
the  same  Hebrew  term  for  the  splendid  dresses  of  the 
great  in  his  day.  These  mantles  or  shawls,  as  we  should 
call  them,  were  generally  made  of  wool,  though  some 
were  made  of  linen.  The  young  man  in  the  gospel,  who 


THE    NUPTIAL    JOY.  193 

followed  our  Lord,  when  laid  hold  of,  fled  naked,  leaving 
"  the  linen  cloth."  This  does  not  mean  that  he  was  abso- 
lutely naked,  when  he  left  his  plaid.  But  rather  than 
remain  a  prisoner,  he  slipt  off  his  mantle  as  a  man  might 
now  do  his  loose  cloak,  and  ran,  leaving  it  in  their  hands. 
A  similar  explanation  belongs  to  Peter's  throwing  off 
his  fisher's  coat  or  tunic.  The  meaning  is  not  that  he 
was  in  a  state  of  absolute  nudity,  but  deprived  of  the 
usual  mantle  or  flowing  garment. 

4.  Let  us  hear  how  they  proceed  with  the  solution. 
On  the  seventh  day,  the  last  day  of  the  marriage  feast, 
but  not  till  just  before  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  they 
said  to  Samson,  "  What  is  sweeter  than  honey  ?  and 
what  is  stronger  than  a  lion  ?"  See  verses  fifteen  and 
twenty  inclusive.  In  Bible  times,  in  Bible  lands,  as  it  is 
still,  it  will  be  remembered  that  weddings  were  occasions 
of  great  ceremony.  The  feasting  usually  continued  seven 
days.  Laban,  in  Gen.  xxix :  27,  28,  refers  to  Leah's 
week  of  nuptial  ceremonies  which  could  not  be  inter- 
rupted by  the  espousal  of  Rachel.  The  Greeks  and 
Romans  called  the  marriage  week  of  feasting  "  the  nup- 
tial joy,"  and  did  not  allow  any  work  to  be  done,  other 
than  what  was  necessary  to  carry  on  the  entertainment, 
nor  permit  any  signs  of  mourning.  It  was  also  the  cus- 
tom to  make  and  receive  presents  during  the  nuptial 
feast,  particularly  on,  the  third  day.  In  patriarchal  times 
the  bride's  father  always  presented  his  daughter  with  a 
female  slave  for  a  handmaid,  who  was  to  be  inseparable 
from  the  family.  She  was  to  nurse  the  mother  and  the 
little  ones,  and  to  be  faithful  to  her  old  master's  daughter, 
if  all  the  rest  of  the  world  should  forsake  her.  Other 
presents  were  also  exchanged  according  to  the  wealth 
i 


194  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

and  rank  of  the  parties,  consisting  generally  of  jewelry, 
couches,  beds,  vestments  and  all  sorts  of  things  reckoned 
needful  for  house-keeping. 

And  Samson's  wife  wept  before  hint  —  wept  before  hint 
t/ie  seven  days  while  the  feast  lasted.     Her  weeping  was 
not  out  of  affection  for  him.     Her  tears  were  crocodile 
tears,  or  they  were   tears  of  terror  for  her  own  sake. 
She  loved  him  not.     She  said,  however,  "Thou  dost  l;ut 
hate  me,  and  lovest  me  not  :  thou  hast  put  forth  a  riddle 
unto  the  children  of  my  people,  and  hast  not  told  it  me. 
And   he  said   unto  her,  Behold,  I  have   not   told  it  my 
father,  nor  my  mother,  and  shall  I  tell  it  thee  ?"     Is  not 
this  the  address  of  a  jealous  or  teasing  wife  still  ?     AY  hen 
she  wishes  to  have  expressions  of  endearment,  does  she 
not  hypothecate  charges  of  want  of  love  for  her  against 
her  husband,  that  she  may  have  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
him  deny  them  ?     Nor  is  she  less  skilful  than  Samson's 
wife   in   instituting  a   rivalry  between   herself  and   the 
children  of  her  and  especially  of  his  own  people.     And 
is  not  Samson's  answer  just  the  type  of  an  honest  heart 
—  of  a  great  and  true  man  ?     In  a  simple,  straight  for- 
ward way,  he  assures  her  that  he  had  not  kept  the  secret 
from  her  from   any  want  of  affection.      For  he  had   not 

t/ 

told  it  to  his  own  father  or  mother.  Samson's  reply  is 
a  proverb  still  in  the  East.  When  any  one  Avishcs  to 
excuse  himself  from  telling  a  secret,  he  .-;ivs,  u  Why  !  I 
have  not  told  it  either  to  my  fat  her  or  my  mother  :  how 
then  can  I  tell  it  to  you  ?"  "  My  friend,  do  tell  me  the 
secret."  "  Tell  you  ?  Yes,  when  I  have  told  my  parents." 
(See  Roberts,  and  others.)  The  idea  that  Samson 
wished  to  impress  upon  his  wife  wpas,  that  he  had  not 
treated  her  with  any  disrespect  or  coldness.  It  is  as  if 


CAN    A    WOMAN    KEEP    A    SECRET.  195 

he  had  said  :  I  have  been  long  with  my  father  and  mother. 
They  have  uniformly  treated  me  with  kindness.  They 
have  done  a  great  deal  for  me — much  more  than  I  shall 
ever  be  able  to  do  for  them.  They  are  worthy  of  my 
fullest  confidence.  I  love  them  dearly,  and  yet  I  have 
not  told  them  this  secret.  How  then  can  I  tell  it  you? 
If  I  tell  it  to  you,  will  I  not  show  a  want  of  respect  for 
them? 

I  fancy  the  human  races  are  very  much  the  same  in 
all  ages  and  countries.  And  although  it  is  heterodox,  I 
should  think  it  about  as  difficult  a  thing  for  a  man  in 
modern  times  to  keep  a  secret  as  for  a  woman.  I  am 
not  sure,  but  when  great  interests  are  involved,  women 
are  more  trust  worthy  than  men.  Their  firmness  and 
ready  wit  in  emergencies  are  proverbial.  A  Hindoo  pro- 
verb says  :  "  to  a  woman,  tell  not  a  secret."  But  shall 
we  believe  a  heathen  saying,  rather  than  the  experience  of 
a  Christian  age  ?  Samson's  heathen  wife  is  not  our  model. 
And  besides,  as  it  has  been  shrewdly  remarked,  if  Sam- 
son could  not  keep  his  own  secret,  how  could  he  expect 
his  wife  to  do  it  ?  Strange  that  he  was  "  fool  enough  to 
suppose  that  another  would  be  more  faithful  to  him  than 
he  was  to  himself."  Indeed,  under  all  the  circumstances, 
it  is  wonderful  he  did  not  suspect  treachery.  What  just 
grounds  had  he  to  trust  in  a  Philistine  woman  ? 

"Whether  she  prevailed  on  a  promise  of  secresy  or  not, 
the  history  does  not  say.  If  so,  the  promise  was  soon 
broken.  It  was  made  to  deceive.  But  who  would 
believe  the  word  of  a  faithless  wife  ?  And  yet  how  can 
she  be  resisted  ?  She  pleads  and  weeps,  and  accuses 
him  of  not  loving  her.  In  such  a  contest,  who  is  always 
victorious?  May  not  a  woman's  tears  prevail  —  espe- 


196  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

cially  when  that  woman  is  a  young  wife  and  the  husband 
uxorious  as  only  Samson  could  be?  Some  allowance 
should  be  made  for  the  Israelitish  judge.  Who  that 
ever  witnessed  a  similar  strife,  can  wonder  that  the 
strong  man  did  not  stand  out  against  her  tears  !  Young, 
lovely  and  his  bride  !  Few  men  of  strong  minds  would 
have  held  out  any  better  than  the  giant  judge.  To  us 
his  greatest  weakness  seems  to  have  been  his  blindness 

o 

in  not  seeing  the  net  that  was  set  for  him.     He  must 
have  been  one  of  those  honest,  simple  hearted,  unsus- 
pecting great  souls  that  cannot  apprehend  the  depths  of 
the  cunning,  nor  the  meanness  of  the  selfish  and  pusil- 
lanimous.    And  after    all,  there  is  a  manly,  a  heroic 
necessity  to  rely  on  the  truth  and  tenderness  of  woman's 
nature.     In   childhood  and  youth,  in  manhood  and  old 
age,  she  is  man's  truest  friend.     In  sickness  and  sorrow, 
in  works  of  charity  and  in  acts  of  piety,  she  has  too  often 
proved  herself  to  be  man's  angel  of  mercy,  to  be  traduced 
by  the  heartless  wretch  who  is  incapable  of  appreciating 
her  worth.     All  men  are  not  Samsons,  nor  are  all  women 
like  the  Timnite  bride  nor  like  Delilah  of  Sorek.     Those 
who  are  the  loudest  and  the  most  profane  in  their  com- 
plaints of  the  weakness  of  women,  are  the  very  men  who 
have  themselves  done  the  most  to  corrupt  them.    Woman 
is  man's  other  self — without  her  he  is  nothing.     She  is 
his  blessing  and  his  joy  both  in  the  sunshine  and  beauty 
of  the  world,  and  in  its  darkness  and  sorrow.     Who,  ye 
revilers  of  womankind — who  were  your  mothers?   And 
besides,  has  woman  no  wrongs --no  cruel,   outrageous 
wrongs  to  avenge,  and  to  avenge  only  by  pouring  out  to 
your  faithless  sex  the  cup  you  yourselves  have  drugged 
first  for  her  ? 


PLOUGHING    WITH    HIS    HEIFER.  197 

5.  The  solution  is  given  at  the  appointed  hour.  Grimly 
exultant  the  men  of  the  city,  just  before  the  sun  went 
down  on  the  seventh  day,  said  unto  Samson  :  What  is 
sweeter  than  honey?  and  what  is  stronger  than  a  lion? 
In  a  moment  he  saw  he  had  been  betrayed.  "  And  he 
said  unto  them,  If  ye  had  not  ploughed  with  my  heifer, 
ye  had  not  found  out  my  riddle."  Josephus  paraphrases 
the  interview  thus :  They  said  to  Samson,  "  Nothing  is 
more  disagreeable  than  a  lion  to  those  that  light  on  it, 
and  nothing  is  sweeter  than  honey  to  those  that  make 
use  of  it,"  To  which  he  replied :  "  Nothing  is  more 
deceitful  than  a  woman  ;  for  such  was  the  perfidious  per- 
son that  discovered  my  interpretation  to  you."  He 
meant,  doubtless,  that  without  the  assistance  of  his  wife, 
they  could  not  have  told  the  riddle.  And  on  this  plea,  he 
might  have  disputed  whether  they  were  entitled  to  the 
forfeit.  If  ye  had  not  ploughed  with  my  heifer  was  prob- 
ably a  common  metaphor,  or  proverb.  It  seems  to  have 
been  used  with  two  shades  of  meaning,  one  that  of  licen- 
tious intercourse,  and  the  other  merely  of  familiarity. 
A  similar  phrase  is  found  in  several  Greek  and  Latin 
writers,  in  which  the  idea  of  guilt  is  perhaps  always 
implied.  Rabbi  Levi,  the  Syriac  and  the  Septuagint, 
understand  the  expression  to  imply  a  guilty  intercourse 
with  his  wife.  Calmet  says  the  Hebrew  expression 
declares  her  infidelity  as  a  wife.  Samson  then  meant  to 
say,  if  my  wife  had  been  faithful  to  my  bed,  she  would 
not  have  betrayed  my  secret.  With  all  due  respect  to 
such  high  authority,  I  do  not  believe  this  is  the  idea. 
The  original  does  not  necessarily  convey  the  idea  of 
wantonness,  if  it  allows  it  at  all.  And  his  return  to  be 
reconciled  forbids  such  an  interpretation.  The  idea  is 


198  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

this  —  Samson  compares  his  wife  to  a  young  heifer  not 
yet  fully  subdued  to  the  yoke --not  yet  learned  to  go 
patiently  —  not  yet  obedient.  This  explanation,  though 
it  may  not  be  elegant,  mitigates  her  offense,  and  is  fully 
sustained  by  the  original  and  the  context. 

I  am  fond  of  many  of  the  old  writers.  They  have 
often  and  justly  been  compared  to  the  precious  metals  in 
masses.  They  are  the  nuggets.  I  find  some  of  them  witty 
and  severe  on  Samson's  weakness  for  a  Philistine  woman. 
One  of  them,  describing  Samson's  folly  says  :  "  And  yet 
whom  the  lion  could  not  conquer,  the  tears  of  a  woman 
have  conquered.  Samson  never  betrayed  infirmity  but 
in  uxoriousness.  What  assurance  can  there  be  of  him 
that  had  a  Philistine  in  his  bosom  !  Adam  the  most  per- 
fect man,  Samson  the  strongest  man,  Solomon  the  wisest 
man,  were  betrayed  with  the  flattery  of  their  helpers. 
As  there  is  no  comfort  comparable  to  a  faithful  yoke  fel- 
low, so  woe  be  to  him  that  is  matched  with  a  Philistine." 
And  again,  "  ever  since  Adam's  experiment  with  Eve, 
Satan  hath  broken  many  a  man's  head  (and  heart  too) 
with  his  own  rib."  Nobody  but  Hall  could  have  said 
this  ;  but  a  poet  almost  as  quaint,  has  furnished  the  fol- 
lowing prayer  for  young  men  about  to  fall  in  love. 

"  Lord,  clarify  mine  eyes,  that  I  may  know 
Things  that  are  good, from  what  is  good  in  show; 
And  give  me  wisdom,  that  my  heart  may  learn 
The  difference  of  thy  favors,  and  discern 
What,  truly  good,  from  what  is  good  in  part ; 
With  Martha's  trouble  give  me  Alary*  s  heart." 

6.  Though  betrayed  and  badly  treated,  Samson  scorns 
to  complain,  but  goes  right  off  to  procure  the  means  to 
pay  his  forfeit.  He  was  neither  a  cruel  husband  nor  a 
repudiator. 


THE    ASKELON    SLAUGHTER.  190 

"  And  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  eame  upon  him,  and  he 
went  down  to  Askelon,  and  slew  thirty  men  of  them,  and 
took  their  spoil,  and  gave  change  of  garments  unto  them 
which  expounded  the  riddle." 

By  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  coming  upon  him,  we  are  to 
understand,  that  he  was  inspired  with  the  courage  and 
strength  to  perform  the  following  feat.  He  made  Aske- 
lon his  wardrobe,  and  brought  thence  the  wager  of  gar- 
ments for  the  winning  Philistines,  lined  with  the  blood 

* 

of  their  own  countrymen.  We  know  not  the  causes  that 
led  to  this  pitched  battle  between  Samson  and  the  men 
of  Askelon.  Samson  may  have  had  a  few  warriors  with 
him.  If  he  had  not,  the  odds  was  very  great  against 
him.  Nor  must  we  forget  that  the  Philistines  were  at 
war  with  Israel.  There  may  have  been  a  nominal  truce 
between  Dan  and  the  Philistines  of  Timnath,  and  war 
still  raging  between  the  Hebrews  and  the  Askelonites. 
The  United  States  may  be  at  peace  with  the  Sioux,  and 
yet  the  Apaches  be  carrying  on  their  robberies  and 
scalpings.  And  we  must  also  remember  that  in  this 
case,  as  when  Moses  slew  the  Egyptian  according  to 
the  Noachian  precept,  Samson  was  not  slaying  merely 
for  his  own  pleasure,  nor  merely  to  gratify  any  personal 
ill  will.  He  was  fulfilling  his  commission  to  deliver 
Israel.  The  Philistines  were  idolaters — they  were  ene- 
mies to  God  as  well  as  to  him  and  his  countrymen.  For 
their  sins  they  had  been  already  tried  in  the  court  of 
Jehovah,  and  convicted,  and  were  now  under  sentence, 
and  Samson  was  appointed  high  sheriff  to  execute  the 
sentence.  His  acts  were  therefore  by  the  direction  and 
assistance  of  God.  The  Hebrew  government  in  this 
heroic  age  was  a  pure  theocracy.  Samson  was  God's 


200  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

lieutenant  general,  commissioned  to  execute  judgment 
upon  the  Philistines.  Their  crimes  were  also  sins,  for 
JEHOVAH  was  both  the  true  God  and  the  acting  king  of 
Israel.  The  punishment  on  the  Philistines  was,  first, 
because  of  their  sins  against  God  ;  yet  as  God's  messen- 
ger, the  executioner  of  the  divine  sentence  upon  them, 
Samson  was  also  revenging  his  own  injury  and  his 
national  wrongs. 

As  to  the  hypercriticism  urged  by  some,  that  as  Sam- 
son was  a  Nazarite,  he  could  not  have  touched  the  dead 
bodies  to  get  their  garments,  it  may  be  answered,  that 
as  he  was  acting  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord,  he  may  have  had  a  dispensation  in  this  case,  to  do 
what  on  ordinary  occasions  he  could  not  have  done,  just 
as  our  Lord  explains  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  ;  or  the 
prohibition  may  not  have  extended  to  a  Nazarite  for 
life,  but  only  for  a  limited  period  —  or  better  still,  as 
he  was  chief  magistrate,  he  could  have  had  no  difficulty 
in  obtaining  men  to  strip  off  their  clothes  and  carry  them 
for  him  to  Timnath. 

7.  Samson's  "  anger  was  kindled  and  he  went  up  to  his 
father's  house."  Anger  is  as  natural  as  a  smile.  His 
wife's  treachery  was  a  just  cause  of  anger,  and  his  going 
up  to  his  father's  house  at  this  time  showed  unusual  pru- 
dence and  forbearance.  When  he  returned  to  Timnath 
to  pay  the  forfeit,  he  seems  not  to  have  seen  his  wife-. 
But  lordly  as  Achilles  and  quite  as  angry  and  proud  in 
his  own  self  consciousness  of  unmerited  wrong  and  impul- 
sive ferocity,  he  strides  off  home  to  his  father  and  mother. 
It  was  not  wise  for  him  to  trust  himself  in  his  wife's 
presence  when  the  sense  of  his  wrongs  was  so  warm 
within  him.  He  probably  feared  he  might  commit  some 


THE    SACREDNESS    OF    MARRIAGE.  201 

great  outrage,  if  lie  remained  in  Timnath.  It  is  to  his 
praise  that  he  thus  restrained  himself,  and  that  when  his 
anger  did  burst  forth  in  consuming  fire,  it  was  not  so 
much  on  account  of  his  own  wounded  pride,  as  to  avenge 
his  countrymen.  Patriotism  and  piety  are  conspicuous 
in  his  heroic  deeds.  And  in  his  lingering  at  home  we 
see  traces  of  filial  love  and  of  early  piety.  Yet  for  some 
reason  or  other,  he  does  not  seem  to  have  made  his 
parents  his  confidents.  He  neither  told  them  how  he 
was  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  nor  did  he  ask  their 
advice  about  his  plans  against  their  enemies. 

But  Samson's  wife  was  given  to  his  companion,  whom 
he  had  used  as  his  friend.     That  is,  she  was   given  by 
her  father  and  the  chiefs  of  the  town  in  marriage  to  his 
first  groom's  man.     Although  she  had  but  little  liberty 
in  the  matter,  still  no  doubt  she  was   glad  the  Hebrew 
was  gone,  and  that  she  was  the  wife  of  his  friend.     How 
far  Samson  was  justified  in  leaving  his  wife  is  not  alto- 
gether clear  from  the  text.     Most  probably   he  did  not 
intend  a  final  separation,  although  this  was  the  result. 
The  whole  history  is  not  written  out.     Many  interpre- 
ters, inconsistently  and  strangely,  in  view  of  their  under- 
standing of  the  eighteenth  verse,  blame  him  as  much  for 
leaving  his   wife,  as  for .  marrying  her.     It  is  a  most 
practical  and  important  matter  for  us  to  guard  against 
the  demoralization  of  society  by  allowing  too  slight  causes 
to  break  the  nuptial  bands.     Certainly  one  of  the  great 
sins  of  our  times  is  the  facility  of  obtaining  divorces. 
Too   little   sanctity  and  permanence  is  attached  to  the 
marriage  relation.     Marriage  is  a  sacred  institution.     It 
is  a  gift  from  heaven  to  man  before  there  was  any  sin. 
Its  purity  lies  at  the  foundation  of  our  prosperity.     The 


202  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

maraiage  relation  ought  not  to  be  dissolved  for  any  slight 
cause  —  not  from  mere  whims  or  fancies,  or  momentary 
passions,  nor  on  account  of  imaginary  wrongs.  I  could 
wish  our  statutes  and  our  practice  were  more  strict  on 
this  subject. 

The  lesson  has  often  been  drawn  from  Samson's  mar- 
riage—  that  Christians  should  only  marry  in  the  Lord. 
Samson's  case  is  indeed  an  admonitory  one.  Hereditary 
enemies  allied  by  the  most  sacred  and  endearing  bonds 
— a  Nazarite,  one  peculiarly  set  apart  to  the  service  of 
God  united  in  matrimony  to  an  idolatress.  Speaking 
after  the  manner  of  our  times,  we  should  say,  a  fair  face 
and  a  warm  fancy  made  sad  work  with  the  strongest 
man's  piety.  The  warning  of  the  good  bishop  on  mixed 
marriages,  although  scarcely  ever  heeded,  is  worth  a 
repetition.  "  I  wish,"  says  he,  "  Manoah  could  speak  so 
loud,  that  all  our  Israelites  might  hear  him.  Is  there 
never  a  woman  among  all  thy  brethren,  or  among  all  thy 
people,  that  thou  goest  to*  marry  a  stranger  to  God  and 
religion  ?"  It  were  often  better  to  attend  our  children's 
funeral  than  their  wedding.  Marriage  is  always  a  solemn 
event.  Even  when  the  choice  has  been  agreeable  to  all 
parties,  the  future  is  an  unopened  volume.  A  veil  of 
awful  mystery  hangs  before  the  altar  of  marriage,  which 
Omnipotence  alone  can  penetrate.  There  is  no  surer 
way  to  a  broken  heart,  to  unutterable  woe  and  an  early 
grave,  than  to  marry  a  fool,  or  a  man  without  correct 
principles,  a  sot,  a  spendthrift,  a  knave,  or  a  debauchee, 
though  rich  as  Croesus,  as  clever  as  Byron,  or  as  hand- 
some as  Absalom. 


®  jje 


of  ilje 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  JUDGMENT  OP  THE  FOXES. 

"  And  Samson  caught  three  hundred  foxes,  and  took  firebrands,  and  turned 
tail  to  tail,  and  put  a  firebrand  in  the  midst  between  the  two  tails.  And  when 
he  had  set  the  brands  on  fire,  he  let  them  go  into  the  standing  corn  of  the 
Philistines,  and  burnt  up  both  the  shocks,  and  also  the  standing  corn,  with  the 
Tiueyards  and  olives." 

AT  wheat-harvest,  which  in  Palestine  is  about  the 
time  of  Pentecost,  when  there  is  much  rejoicing  in 
the  country,  Samson  visited  his  wife  with  a  kid.  We 
have  seen  that  when  he  was  betrayed  by  his  wife,  he 
left  her  in  great  disgust,  and  went  tdfc^skelon  and  slew 
thirty  Philistines  and  paid  his  forfeit,  and  then  went 
home  and  remained  a  good  while  with  his  parents.  In 
the  mean  time  his  anger  cools,  and  his  affection  begins 
to  return,  and  not  knowing  that  his  wife  had  been  given 
to  his  friend,  (probably  the  very  person  to  whom  she 
had  revealed  the  riddle,)  he  takes  a  kid,  or  fawn,  and 
returns  to  be  reconciled  to  her.  His  father-in-law  was 
doubtless  sincere  in  offering  him  his  wife's  sister  in  her 
stead.  This  was  the  best  indemnity  he  could  make. 
From  the  case  of  Laban,  who,  after  he  had  cheated 
Jacob  with  Leah,  gave  him  Rachel,  we  see  that  it  was 
not  unusual  for  a  man  to  marry  two  sisters.  It  was 


206  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

probably  to  correct  abuses  of  this  kind  that  the  law  of 
Moses  was  afterwards  enacted.  Samson's  forbearance 
is  to  be  noted,  as  also  his  effort  at  reconciliation.  Even 
his  purpose  to  avenge  himself,  in  the  third  verse  of  the 
fifteenth  chapter,  seems  to  be  the  utterance  of  a  patri- 
otic judge,  rather  than  of  an  aggrieved  husband.  If  he 
had  meditated  retaliation  merely  for  his  personal  inju- 
ries, his  wife  and  her  father  were  the  parties  to  have 
been  chastised.  But  he  felt  that  it  was  as  an  Israelite 
chiefly  that  he  had  been  injured,  and  as  such  he  would 
be  more  guilty  than  even  the  Philistines,  if  he  did  not 
avenge  this  national  insult.  His  manner  of  avenging 
himself  was  extraordinary,  singular,  and  effective.  His 
agents  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  pairs  of  foxes,  with 
firebrands  tied  to  their  tails,  which  burned  their  corn, 
and  vineyards,  and  olives.  In  the  time  of  wheat-har- 
vest, the  corn  was  partly  standing,  and  partly  gathered 
into  shocks ;  all  dead  ripe,  and  of  course  easily  burned. 
Infidels  have  attempted  to  be  merry  over  Samson's  foxes 
and  the  burning  ^prnfields  of  the  Philistines.  But  let 
such  remember  that  the  corn  was  not  maize  or  Indian 
corn,  but  wheat,  which  when  ripe  could  be  easily  burned, 
either  standing  in  the  field  or  gathered  into  shocks. 
And  as  to  Samson's  ability  to  catch  so  many  foxes,  let 
it  be  observed : 

1.  That  the  Hebrew  shualim  may  comprehend  not 
only  foxes,  but  wolves  and  hyenas.  The  Bible  name 
for  fox  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from  its  habit  of  bur- 
rowing or  dwelling  in  holes  in  the  earth,  and  may  be  as 
applicable  to  wolves,  hyenas  and  jackals  as  to  fox-.-s. 
The  Septuagint  and  the  Vulgate  both  understand  the 
animal  in  this  place  to  be  the  fox.  It  is  true  that  a 


FOXES    VERY    NUMEROUS.  207 

different  Hebrew  word  is  used  for  the  jackal ;  but  it  is 
probable  the  term  shualim  included  this  animal  also. 
Hasselquist  and  some  other  naturalists  have  thought 
the  shualim  of  Palestine,  the  foxes  of  Samson,  was  an 
animal  between  a  wolf  and  a  fox  —  "  the  little  eastern 
fox,"  as  they  denominate  it,  and  not  our  ordinary  fox. 
When  hungry,  this  animal  is  said  to  devour  little  chil- 
dren, and  even  old  and  feeble  persons.  The  Hebrew 
name  ayim,  for  jackals,  signifies  howlers,  and  is  equally 
appropriate  to  all  this  class  of  animals.  It  is  only  by 
the  context  that  we  can  tell  what  kind  of  animals  are 
meant  in  a  given  passage. 

2.  But  taking  the  term  here  in  its  comprehensive  sense, 
as  we  well  may,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  country 
was  full  of  foxes.  The  Scriptures  often  speak  of  them 
in  the  Holy  Land.  Their  cubs  ruined  the  vineyards, 
according  to  the  Song  of  Solomon,  ii :  15.  "  Take  us  the 
foxes,  the  little  foxes  that  spoil  our  vines."  And  Jere- 
miah laments  that  the  foxes  had  taken  possession  of  the 
hills  of  Judea.  Lam.  v  :  18.  And  Ezekiel  compares  the 
numerous  false  prophets  of  his  day  to  the  same  animals, 
xiii :  4.  And  in  the  first  book  of  Samuel,  a  portion  of 
this  very  country  is  called  Shual,  that  is  the  land  of 
foxes  —  famous  for  the  number  of  these  animals  found 
in  it.  And  a  neighboring  city  belonging  to  one  of  the 
tribes  of  Israel  was  called  Hazar-shual ;  that  is,  the 
abode  or  habitation  of  the  fox.  Every  traveller  through 
the  country  to  this  day,  confirms  the  testimony  of  Bochart, 
Bellonius  and  Morizon,  that  it  swarms  with  animals  of 
this  species.  They  lurk  in  companies  of  two  or  three 
hundred  on  the  borders  of  the  desert,  and  in  the  ruins 
of  old  towns,  and  in  the  ledges  of  the  rocks. 


208  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

3.  Samson  was  no  doubt  an  expert  hunter  as  well  as 
a  terrible  fighter,  and  well  skilled  in  taking  foxes.     And 
then,  as  a  chief  magistrate,  he  could  have  employed  as 
many  men  to  assist  him  as  was  necessary.     When  Neb- 
uchadnezzar is  said  to  have  built  the  great  Babylon, 
and  Solomon  to  have  built  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  the 
meaning  is  not  that  they  did  all  the  work  with  their  own 
royal  hands.     They  did  not  lay  a  single  brick,  stone  or 
timber  themselves.     But  they  caused  the  ivork  to  be  done. 
There  is  no  necessity  then  to  prove  that  Samson  caught 
all  the  foxes  himself.     Nor, 

4.  Are  we  restricted  to  any  short  or  definite  period 
of  time  in  which  the  foxes  must  have  been  taken.     It  is 
not  said  they  were  all  caught  in  one  hour,  one  day,  or 
one  week.     He  may  have  been  several  months  in  cap- 
turing them,  for  any  thing  the  text  says. 

5.  Some  say,  though  I  do  not  attach  any  importance 
to  the  suggestion,  that  a  miraculous  agency  was  employed 
in  bringing  the  animals  to  Samson,  as  in  causing  them 
to  come  to  Adam   to   be  named,  and  to  Noah  into  the 
ark.     It  is  not  denied  that  God  can  control  the  instincts 
and  guide  the  propensities  of  beasts,  birds  and  fishes. 
This  we  see  in  Daniel's  lions,  Noah's  doves,  and  Peter's 
fish  ;  but  when  there  was  no  necessity,  so  to  speak,  for 
divine  interposition  in  a  miraculous  manner,  I  prefer  not 
to  call  for  it.     In  theology,  as  in  philosophy,  there  is  no 
useless  expenditure  of  Omnipotent  energy.     But  a  mir- 
acle is  none  the  less  a  true  miracle,  because  the  means 
by  which  it  is  wrought  are  natural.     The  converging  of 
the  natural  agencies  in  force  on  the  desired  point  and 
for  an  avowed  purpose  is  sufficient  to  make  a  miracle. 

Some,  as  the  learned  Kennicott  and  Saurin,  think  that 


LIONS,    BEARS    AND    FOXES    PLENTY.  209 

animals  are  not  meant  at  all.  They  say  that  the  true 
Hebrew  word  is  not  shualim,  but  schoalim,  signifying 
handsful  of  corn  or  sheaves.  It  is  only  out  of  respect 
to  such  names  that  this  interpretation  is  referred  to  all, 
for  it  is,  in  our  humble  judgment,  wholly  without  sup- 
port, either  from  etymology,  or  the  context,  and  contrary 
to  the  common  sense  view  of  the  passage.  Nor  is  such 
an  interpretation  in  any  way  necessary.  For  surely  it 
is  not  so  unheard  of  and  incredible  a  thing,  to  have  col- 
lected such  a  number  of  these  animals  in  ancient  times 
as  to  destroy  the  credibility  and  literality  of  our  story, 
because  it  contains  this  statement  about  the  foxes.  Did 
not  Sylla  show  at  one  time  to  the  Romans  one  hundred 
lions  ?  And  Caesar  four  hundred,  and  Pompey  six  hun- 
dred ?  The  history  of  Roman  pleasures,  according  to 
the  books,  states  that  the  Emperor  Probus  let  loose  into 
the  theatre  at  one  time  one  thousand  wild  boars,  one 
thousand  does,  one  thousand  ostriches,  one  thousand 
stags,  and  a  countless  multitude  of  other  wild  animals. 
At  another  time  he  exhibited  one  hundred  leopards  from 
Lybia,  one  hundred  from  Syria,  and  three  hundred  bears. 
When  the  ca viler  settles  his  hypercriticism  with  Vopiscus' 
life  of  Probus,  and  with  Roman  history  generally,  we 
shall  then  consider  whether  our  story  should  be  rejected 
as  incredible  because  of  its  three  hundred  foxes, 

It  has  also  been  proven  by  learned  men  that  the 
Romans  had  a  custom,  which  they  seem  to  have  bor- 
rowed from  the  Phenicians,  who  were  near  neighbors  of 
the  Philistines  —  if  they  were  not  Philistines  them- 
selves—  of  letting  loose,  in  the  middle  of  April,  (the 
feast  of  Ceres) — the  very  time  of  wheat-harvest  in  Pal- 
estine, but  not  in  Italy — in  the  circus,  a  large  number 


210  THE    GIANT    JUDGE, 

of  foxes  with  burning  torches  to  their  tails.  Is  Sam- 
son's the  original,  or  did  he  adopt  a  common  custom  of 
the  country  ?  The  story  of  the  celebrated  Roman  vul- 
pinaria,  or  feast  of  the  foxes,  as  told  by  Ovid  and  others, 
bears  a  remarkable  similarity  to  the  history  before  us, 
ascribing  the  origin  of  this  Roman  custom  to  the  follow- 
ing circumstance  :  A  lad  caught  a  fox  who  had  stolen 
many  fowls,  and  having  enveloped  his  body  with  straw, 
set  it  on  fire  and  let  him  run  loose.  The  fox,  hoping  to 
escape  from  the  fire,  took  to  the  thick  standing  corn 
which  was  then  ready  for  the  sickle  ;  and  the  wind  blow- 
ing hard  at  the  time,  the  flames  soon  consumed  the  crop. 
And  from  this  circumstance  ever  afterwards,  a  law  of 
the  city  of  Rome  required  that  every  fox  caught  should 
be  burnt  alive.  This  is  the  substance  of  the  Roman 
story,  which  Bochart  and  others  insist  took  its  rise  from 
the  burning  of  the  cornfields  of  the  Philistines  by  Sam- 
son's foxes.  The  Judean  origin  of  the  custom  is  cer- 
tainly the  most  probable,  and  in  every  way  the  most 
satisfactory.  Commemorative  institutions  or  fetes  always 
have  their  origin  in  facts.  Of  this  we  may  be  well 
assured,  though  the  record  of  the  original  facts  and  even 
the  facts  themselves  should  be  lost  through  the  lapse  of 
time.  (See  Ovid  and  his  Scholiasts.  Faster,  lib.  iv  : 
vers.  679.) 

And  took  fire-brands.  Our  word  lamp  is  probably 
through  the  Greek  lampos,  from  the  Hebrew  original  in 
this  place,  lapidim,OY,  as  it  is  in  the  Chaldee  and  Syriac, 
lamfjidim.  These  lampidim  were  a  kind  of  torch,  Ham- 
beau,  or  burners,  made  with  pitch.  The  animals  seemed 
to  be  tied  together  in  pairs,  tail  to  tail,  by  cords  of  mod- 
erate length,  and  the  torch  fastened  to  this  cord  about 


FOXES    WITH    FIREBRANDS.  211 

midway.  See  our  engraving.  How  these  animals  thus 
treated  would  act,  we  may  easily  comprehend  from  what 
almost  every  one  has  seen  in  the  mischievous  experi- 
ments that  are  sometimes  made  by  tying  fire-crackers, 
or  squibs  or  tin  pans  to  the  tails  of  dogs.  This,  how- 
ever, is  a  cruel  and  ungenteel  .sport,  that  I  hope  none  of 
our  Sunday  school  boys  will  ever  have  anything  to  do 
with.  Be  kind  to  animals.  It  is  at  least  well  known 
that  the  whole  fox  race  is  prone  to  range  about  houses 
and  fields,  and  when  frightened,  as  these  were,  to  run 
for  cover  to  the  thickest  corn,  if  standing,  or  for  the 
sheaves  or  stacks  if  gathered,  and  being  vexed  by  the 
pain  of  the  fire,  they  would  first  worry >  and  snap  and 
fight,  and  run  at  cross  purposes,  and  so  spread  the  con- 
flagration, until  we  are  quite  ready  to  conclude  writh 
Calmet,  "  that  nothing  could  be  better  adapted  to  pro- 
duce a  general  conflagration,  than  this  expedient  of  com- 
bustion-communicating jackals.  We  must  therefore 
suppose  these  burners  were  at  some  distance  from  the 
animals,  so  as  not  to  burn  them,  and  that  they  burnt 
long  without  being  consumed.*' 

I  am  not  aware  that  any  experiment  has  ever  been 
made  to  see  how  foxes  would  act  tied  tail  to  tail  with  a 
fire-brand  between  them.  But  Dr.  Kitto,  (to  whose 
Biblical  Illustrations  I  would  especially  refer  the  reader 
for  much  valuable  information  on  this  and  kindred 
topics,)  says  he  once  saw  two  dogs  so  tied  together,  and 
that  they  at  first  pulled  in  contrary  directions,  and  made 
no  head  way  at  all;  but  at  last  ran  off  parallel  with 
considerable  speed.  And  it  is  presumed  foxes*  are  as 
sagacious  as  dogs.  At  first  there  may  have  been  some 
indecision  and  uncertain  turnings,  but  very  soon  each 


212  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

couple  found  that  the  only  way  to  reach  cover,  was  for 
them  to  run  together  in  parallel  lines,  distant  from  each 
other  by  the  length  of  their  tails  and  burning  brands. 
And  thus  the  very  purpose  was  all  the  more  effectually 
carried  out.  The  fox  is  a  swift  runner.  And  when  tied 
together  as  in  this  case,  they  were  sure  to  run  this  way 
and  that  way,  and  to  spread  the  fire  all  over  the  fields. 
Nor  could  they  readily  escape  to  the  woods,  or  to  their 
holes  in  the  rocks,  where  the  fire-brands  would  have 
been  extinguished.  Most  of  the  animals  probably  per- 
ished, or  if  they  escaped,  fled  from  the  country. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  cornfields  of  that 
country  were  not  separated  by  high  fences,  or  deep 
ditches  or  hedges,  but  extended  as  now  in  Celo-Syria,  or 
Esdraelon,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  see,  one  vast  level,  un- 
broken plain  of  waving  grain.  One  hundred  and  fifty 
pairs  of  such  animals,  running  with  flaming  torches  to 
their  tails,  would  very  soon  set  an  immense  plain  in  a 
blaze.  It  certainly  would  not  be  a  difficult  matter  to 
burn  up  a  whole  county  of  ripened  wheat  or  barley  in 
this  state  by  turning  loose  three  hundred  coyotes  into 
the  fields  with  fire-brands  tied  to  their  tails.  The  tying 
of  the  animals  in  pairs  may  have  been  to  prevent  their 
reaching  cover  too  soon.  And  besides,  if  the  fire-brand 
had  been  attached  to  them  singly,  the  tail  would  have 
fallen  to  the  ground,  and  the  brand  would  have  soon 
died  out ;  but  being  sustained  by  the  tension  between 
the  pair,  the  brand  flamed  out,  and  burnt  all  the  better 
for  their  rapid  motion  after  it  was  once  kindled,  and  so 
the  greater  would  be  the  damage. 

Frequent  fires  occur  to  this  day  among  the  towns  of 
the  interior  of  Asia  and  Africa,  that  are  kindled  and 


THE    BURNING   JUSTIFIED.  213 

made  to  spread  from  town  to  town  by  their  enemies 
tying  a  burning  cotton  thread  to  the  tail  of  a  large  species 
of  buzzard,  which  flies  to  the  thatch  of  the  houses  when 
set  adrift,* 

Dr.  Kitto  says  of  the  burning  of  the  harvest-fields,  that 
as  bread  is  the  staff  of  life,  if  any  other  man  than  Sam- 
son had  done  it,  he  should  have  been  "hanged" — "that 
it  looks  like  both  a  religious  and  social  sacrifice,  deliber- 
ately to  waste  and  destroy  it."  Now  if  it  would  have 
been  right  to  hang  any  other  man  for  doing  what  Sam- 
son did  under  the  same  circumstances,  then  Samson 
should  have  been  hanged.  But  where  is  the  authority 
for  hanging  or  taking  away  life  for  any  crime  except  that 
of  murder  ?  And  besides,  I  do  not  see  the  affair  in  that 
light.  Was  not  Samson  the  divinely  commissioned  deliv- 
erer of  Israel  ?  Were  not  the  Philistines  at  war  with 
Israel  ?  Had  he  not  then  a  right  to  cut  off  their  sup- 
plies ?  It  is  allowed  in  war  to  deprive  an  enemy  of  the 
means  of  subsistence.  If  the  Camanches  should  ever 
confederate  with  the  dusky  warriors  of  the  plains  and 
mountains,  and  the  saints  of  the  modern  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,  and  pour  down  their  thousands  upon  Contra 
Costa,  and  threaten  this  city  and  coast  with  destruction, 
captivity  and  slavery,  would  it  not  be  right  for  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  state,  or  the  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Pacific  division  to  consume  the  grain  and  cattle  and  stores 
that  were  likely  to  fall  into  their  hands,  or  to  prevent  them 
from  obtaining  such  supplies,  and  thus  drive  them  back 
to  their  mountain  fastnesses?  Would  not  this  be  &  jus- 
tifiable method  of  liberating  the  state  from  their  depre- 

*Capt.  Clapperton's  Journal  of  his  Second  Expedition,  p.  274. 


214  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

dations  ?  But  if  this  is  not  sufficient,  our  hero  bore  a 
divine  commission  before  he  was  born,  to  do  the  Philis- 
tines all  the  harm  he  could.  This  must  end  the  strife. 
The  method  adopted  we  have  admitted  was  a  singular 
one,  but  it  was  very  effective.  Samson's  commission 
was  to  deliver  Israel  from  the  Philistines.  He  was 
raised  up  to  be  a  judge,  called  and  appointed  by  God  him- 
self, who  was  then  the  only  king  of  Israel,  to  execute 
judgment  on  the  Philistines.  He  was  not  acting  as  a 
private  person,  nor  taking  the  law  into  his  oun  hands,  nor 
assuming  the  sovereignly  of  the  state.  It  was  his  duty  to 
prosecute  the  mission  for  which  God  had  raised  him  up. 
True,  he  is  now  the  more  ready  to  begin  it,  because  he 
has  personal  wrongs  to  avenge.  But  he  feels  that  it  is  as 
an  Israelite  that  he  has  been  insulted  and  wronged  in  the 
matter  of  his  wife,  and  his  patriotism  and  the  honor  of 
his  God  require  him  to  punish  them.  His  enemies  are 
numerous  and  more  warlike  than  his  own  countrymen. 
Their  fields  are  full  of  ripe  corn.  The  country  abounds 
in  foxes.  These  animals  are  swift  runners.  Why  may 
he  not  use  them  as  his  agents  in  afflicting  the  Philistines? 
Why  may  he  not  rid  the  country  of  so  many  of  these 
noxious  animals  either  by  thus  destroying  them,  or 
frightening  them  away,  and  at  the  same  time  avenge  his 
personal  wrongs  by  punishing  the  Philistines  in  the  way 
that  would  bring  upon  them  the  highest  ridicule  and 
*  contempt  ?  I  see  no  reason  why  he  might  not  kill  two 
or  three  birds  with  one  stone. 

In  this  history  we  have  a  most  remarkable  illustration 
of  the  terrible  law  of  retribution  which  the  Supreme 
Ruler  of  the  universe  has  ordained,  the  presence  of  which 
runs  like  a  flame  of  fire  through  all  the  history  and 


FEARFUL    LAW    OF    RETRIBUTION.  215 

through  all  the  dispensations  of  providence.  In  select- 
ins;  foxes  as  instruments  of  his  vengeance,  Samson 

~  C2  ' 

selected  the  animals,  which  of  all  others,  were  the  most 
appropriate  to  the  nature  of  the  insult.  Foxes  are  cun- 
ning ;  and  it  was  through  their  wit  the  Philistines  had 
prevailed  against  him.  It  was  not  Greek  with  Greek, 
but  Reynard  versus  the  Philistines.  They  had  won  the 
garments  by  stratagem,  and  now  their  cornfields  are 
burned  by  foxes. 

But  the  judgments  of  God  that  begin  on  a  man's 
property,  if  not  arrested  by  penitence  and  forgievness 
soon  take  hold  of  his  person.  This  was  the  process  even 
with  Job,  and  with  the  Egyptians,  though  in  them  the 
attributes  illustrated  are  different.  From  the  murrain 
among  their  cattle,  the  LORD  proceeds  until  the  first- 
born is  slain.  And  if  judgments  begin  at  the  house  of 
God,  what  will  be  the  end  of  the  ungodly,  who  obey  not 
the  gospel  ? 

When  the  Philistines  saw  their  cornfields,  vineyards 
and  olives  destroyed,  they  at  once  understood  how  and 
for  what  it  was  done ;  they  therefore  came  and  burnt 
Samson's  wife  and  her  father,  inflicting  upon  her  the 
very  death  threatened,  and  to  escape  which  she  had 
betrayed  her  newly  married  husband.  Because  Samson 
had  burnt  their  fields  of  corn,  the  Philistines  burnt  the 
Timnites.  They  must  have  felt  that  Samson  hr.d  been 
unjustly  treated,  and  hoped  by  this  means  to  appease 
him.  The  retribution  upon  Samson's  wife  and  father 
was  most  inhuman  and  barbarous,  and  in  every  way  out 
of  all  proportion  in  its  severity.  It  does  not  appear 
that  either  of  them  had  any  thing  to  do  with  the  burning 
of  the  cornfields,  yet  their  own  countrymen  burn  them 


216  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

for  what  the  Hebrew  Samson  had  done.  The  fire-brands 
of  the  running  foxes  were  not  so  destructive  as  the 
fire  of  dissension  kindled  between  the  Philistines. 
There  is  nothing  more  pleasing  to  the  enemies  of  free 
institutions  than  to  see  their  friends  pulling  each  other 
by  the  ears.  No  other  hands  but  our  own  can  ever  pull 
down  and  destroy  the  temples  of  justice,  liberty -and 
religion  erected  for  us  by  our  blessed  fathers  in  this  fair 
land.  Union  is  our  strength. 

Samson's  wife  in  trying  to  avoid  Scylla  fell  into  Cha- 
rybdis.     She  betrayed  her  husband,  because  she  feared 
her  brethren    would    burn  her  and  her  father's  house 
with  fire,  and  yet  by  their  hands  she  was  burned  with 
fire  and  her  father  also.     She  leaped  into  the  flames  she 
meant  to  avoid.     The  Jews  who  crucified  our  Lord  did 
just  the  same  thing.     They  professed  to  proceed  against 
him  to  put  him  to  death  as  Caesar's  friends,  lest  the 
Romans  should  come  and  destroy  them.     And  they  suc- 
ceeded in  crucifying  him,  but  the  Romans  came,  and 
burnt  their  temple  and  city  with  fire.     It  is  still  the  rule 
of  providence,  that  as  men  measure  to  others,  so  it  shall 
be   measured  to  them   again.     It  should  be  eternally 
before  our  minds,  that  TRUE  PRINCIPLE  is  THE  ONLY 
EXPEDIENCY.     What  God  does  is  right.     What  he  com- 
mands we  must  do.     His  will  is  the  supreme  rule.     Our 
duty  is  obedience.     All  history,  both  sacred  and  profane, 
shows  that  the  evil  that  men  do  in  trying  to  escape  by 
continuing  to  sin — by  doing  wrong  to  correct  a  wrong — 
by  doing  evil  that  good  may  come,  even  when  their 
motives  are  admitted  to  be  good — always  meets  them 
sooner  or  later  in  their  flight.     Sin  added  to  sin  only 
enhances  guilt.     The  history  of  the  dishonest  and  the 


OF  T! 


^ 
UNIVERSITY  1 


MEN    THEIR    OWN    DESTROYERS.  217 

licentious  is  an  illustrated  commentary  on  this  rule. 
Those  that  hasten  to  be  rich,  by  resorting  to  dishonest 
means,  and  have  accumulated  property  by  fraud,  do  not 
generally  long  enjoy  it.  They  seldom  retain  their  gains, 
and  if  they  do,  how  can  they  enjoy  them  haunted  with  a 
guilty  conscience  ?  The  general  rule  is,  that  Haman 
himself  hangs  on  his  own  gallows,  and  not  Mordecai. 
It  is  a  singular  and  significant  providence  that  so  many 
of  the  inventors  of  means  for  taking  the  life  of  their  fel- 
low men,  should  have  perished  by  their  own  inventions. 
Gunpowder  was  the  death  of  its  inventor  ;  Phalaris  was 
destroyed  by  his  own  "  brazen  bull."  The  regent  Mor- 
ton who  first  introduced  the  "  Maiden,"  a  Scottish  in- 
strument of  decapitation,  like  the  inventor  of  the  Guil- 
lotine^ perished  by  his  own  instrument.  The  same  is 
true  of  Brodie,  who  induced  the  Edinburgh  magistrates 
to  use  the  "  new  drop,"  the  same  still  in  use.  Marat, 
the  bloody  minded,  died  from  the  assassin's  dagger. 
Danton  and  Robespierre  conspired  the  death  of  Vergni- 
aud  and  of  his  republican  confreres,  the  noble  Girondists, 
and  then  Robespierre  lived  only  long  enough  to  see  the 
death  of  Danton  before  perishing  himself  by  the  same 
guillotine.  The  duke  of  Orleans,  the  infamous  Egalite, 
voted  for  the  death  of  Louis  XVI,  and  not  long  after- 
wards was  guillotined  himself.  The  wicked  are  taken 
in  their  own  net.  They  fall  into  the  ditch  their  own 
hands  have  digged.  "  Bloody  minded  and  deceitful  m?n 
shall  not  live  out  half  their  days."  Sinning  is  a  sure 
paymaster,  and  if  delayed,  the  interest  compounds  rapidly. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  adjourn  to  the  court  of  futurity  to 
know  that  sin  is  an  evil  thing  and  bitter.  The  way  of  the 
transgressors  against  both  natural  and  moral  laws  is  NOW 
J 


218  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

hard.  The  day  of  reckoning  follows  hard  after  sinful 
indulgence.  Nature  is  inexorable.  Her  outraged  laws 
must  be  avenged.  The  libertine  and  the  drunkard  find 
it  to  be  so.  Their  bodies  and  minds  soon  bear  the  marks 
of  guilt  and  punishment.  Passions  and  appetites  abused 
soon  change  the  body  into  a  prison  for  the  soul.  No 
fugitive  escapes  the  police  of  God  and  nature.  The  pen- 
alties annexed  by  the  Creator  to  the  violation  of  the 
laws  of  our  physical  constitution  are  as  awful  as  they  are 
inevitable.  Sooner  or  later,  at  home  or  abroad,  on  land 
or  sea,  conscience  will  awake  and  seize  the  guilty ;  and 
abused  nature  will  cry  out,  and  fearful  retribution  will 
fall  upon  them ;  or  if  not  in  this  life,  it  will  be  all  the 
more  fearful  because  it  falls  upon  them  beyond  the 
grave,  where  no  repentance,  nor  acts  of  pardgn  are 
known.  But  this  is  the  day  of  grace.  This  is  the  hour 
of  pardon.  There  is  a  great  Redeemer,  the  Lamb  of 
God,  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  And  if  we 
confess  our  sins  to  God,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive 
us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness. 
THE  BLOOD  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  HIS  SON  CLEANSETH  us 

FROM  ALL  SIN. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE  JAW-BONE  SLAUGHTER. 

"  My  life  hath  been  a  combat, 

And  every  thought  a  wound,  till  I  am  scarr'd 
In  the  immortal  part  of  me." — Manfred. 

"  AND  Samson  said  unto  them,  Though  ye  have  done 
this,  yet  will  I  be  avenged  of  you,  and  after  that  I  will 
cease.  And  he  smote  them  hip  and  thigh  with  a  great 
slaughter.  And  he  went  down  and  dwelt  in  the  top  of 
the  rock  Etam."  The  reader  will  please  read  the  fif- 
teenth chapter  of  Judges  from  the  seventh  verse  to  the 
end.  Homer's  heroes  were  never  at  a  loss  for  weapons, 
for  with  whatever  kind  of  arms  they  began  to  fight,  they 
always  finished  by  throwing  stones.  The  "  fierce  Tydides" 
scrupled  not  to  throw  a  rocky  fragment  so  great  that  two 
men  in  the  degenerate  days  of  the  poet  could  not  raise 
it  against  a  foe  ;  and 

"  Where  to  the  hip  the  inserted  thigh  unites, 
Full  on  the  bone  the  pointed  marble  lights; 
Through  both  the  tendons  broke  the  rugged  stone, 
And  stripped  the  skin  and  erack'd  the  solid  bone." 

Iliad ,  Lib.  v :  375-378. 

The  traveller  from  Thun  to  Grindelwald  in  the  Ber- 
nese Alps,  is  shown  to  this  day  the  huge  stones  with 
which  the  Swiss  Samsons  have  been  wont  to  amuse 


222  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

themselves.  They  are  not  so  large,  it  is  true,  as  the 
mountains  which  the  giants  are  fabled  to  have  plucked 
up  and  used  as  javelins  in  their  wars  ;  but  they  are  of 
very  "  considerable  size." 

The  learned  give  various  explanations  of  this  hip  and 
thigh  slaughter.  Good  critics  say  that  the  text  literally 
means,  that  in  their  running  away  from  Samson,  he 
kicked  them  down,  and  then  trod  them  to  death  ;  and 
thus  his  leg  or  thigh  was  against  their  hip.  Some  say 
that  Samson's  fighting  was  after  the  method  of  Greek 
wrestling  or  African  tripping  and  tumbling.  Others  will 
have  it,  that  "  hip  and  thigh  "  is  the  Hebrew  way  of  say- 
ing hors  de  combat ;  and  others  still  more  liberal  render 
it,  he  defeated  them  "  horse,  foot  and  dragoons  ";  and 
still  further,  some  think  the  meaning  is,  that  their  cavalry 
becoming  unmanageable,  the  horses  trampled  them  to 
death,  crushing  their  heads,  arms  and  bodies  under  their 
feet,  and  thus  the  horse's  hoofs  broke  their  thighs.  But 
it  is  not  historically  proven  that  horses  were  in  use  at 
this  time  in  Palestine.  I  do  not  know  of  a  better  trans- 
lation of  the  passage  than  the  following  from  a  Genevan 
minister,  already  referred  to  several  times  in  this  volume, 
John  Diodati :  "  Pie  made  a  great  slaughter  without  any 
weapons,  hurling  them  against  the  ground  with  spurns 
and  with  thrusts  with  his  knees."  Gesenius  considers 
the  phrase  as  a  proverbial  expression,  meaning  that  he 
smote  them  with  a  great  slaughter,  cutting  them  all  to 
pieces  and  scattering  their  limbs  promiscuously.  It  was 
certainly  a  most  extraordinary  battle.  One,  and  he 
unarmed,  contending  with  many  thousands,  and  these 
thousands  covered  with  armor  and  fighting  with  their 
chosen  weapons.  But  it  is  probable  the  fear  of  the  Lord 


THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    HIS    KILLING.  223 

fell  on  them  as  soon  as  Samson  began  to  deal  his  terrific 
blows,  so  that  in  their  panic  they  trampled  down,  and 
bruised  and  rendered  unfit  for  service  even  a  greater 
number  than  were  killed  outright.  Though  translators 
differ  as  to  the  application  of  some  of  the  words  found 
in  this  passage,  all  agree  in  the  general  meaning.  Pro- 
verbial phrases  are  always  hard  to  explain  after  the 
language  in  which  they  have  their  origin  ceases  to  be  a 
living  tongue. 

It  is  much  more  important  to  notice  the  principle  on 
which  Samson  acted  than  to  explain  how  he  smote  them. 
The  history  of  this  fight  is  brief.  We  are  not  told  how,  nor 
on  what  account  they  met.  Generally  Samson's  move- 
ments against  the  Philistines  were  aggressive  ;  but  here,  I 
think  they  attacked  him.  No  doubt  they  were  always 
ready  for  any  opportunity  to  seize  his  person,  or  to  kill 
him.  But  when  they  came  upon  him  he  slew  them  "  hip 
and  thigh  with  a  great  slaughter."  He  was  not  acting  as 
a  mere  private  person,  even  if  he  were  entirely  alone. 
He  was  the  chief  magistrate,  and  commissioned  from 
heaven  to  execute  divine  sentence  upon  the  Philistines. 

And  he  dwelt  in  the  top  of  the  rock  Etam.  From 
1  Chron.  iv  :  3,  33  and  2  Chron.  xi :  6,  it  would  seem 
that  Rehoboain  built  a  fortress,  or  fortified  a  town  near  the 
rock  Etam,  which  was  called  by  the  same  name.  This 
place  was  within  the  territory  of  Judah,  between  Tekoah 
and  Bethlehem.  And  according  to  Josephus,  who  calls 
it  Ilethan,  it  was  fifteen  miles  from  Jerusalem.  The 
rock  probably  gave  name  to  the  town,  and  Avas  famous 
for  its  natural  strength,  or  safety  as  a  place  of  retreat. 
David  sought  refuge  often  in  the  caves  of  Engedi,  (Ain 
Jiddy).  The  strongholds  of  the  hill  country  of  Judea, 


224  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

• 

were  its  caves  and  holes  in  the  rocks.  1  Sam.,  chapters 
xxiii  and  xxiv. 

In  the  millitary  operations  of  the  French  in  Africa  a 
few  years  since,  a  number  of  Arabs  took  shelter  in  a 
rock  cavern,  and  so  ably  defended  themselves,  that  they 
had  at  last  to  be  destroyed  by  making  a  fire  in  the  cave's 
mouth.  In  1634  when  the  Sultan  ordered  the  Bashaw 
of  Damascus  to  make  the  rebel  Emir  Faccardine  a  pris- 
oner, the  latter  shut  himself  up  in  the  hollow  of  a  great 
rock,  with  a  small  number  of  his  officers.  The  Bashaw 
besieged  him  several  months,  but  at  last  when  he  had 
made  all  necessary  preparations  to  blow  up  the  rock,  the 
Emir  surrendered. 

From  the  twentieth  verse — "And  he  judged  Israel  in 
the  days  of  the  Philistines  twenty  years,"-  -it  is  to  be 
inferred  that  during  all  his  administration  the  Philistines 
were  troublesome.  It  was  his  mission  only  to  begin  the 
deliverance  of  his  people.  The  Philistines  were  har- 
assed and  weakened,  but  not  wholly  overcome.  Their 
yoke  was  not  broken  till  the  days  of  David. 

While  Samson  is  in  the  cave  of  the  rock  Etam  It  is 
countrymen  appear  to  have  been  in  a  very  humiliating 
condition.  We  have  found  that  at  a  subsequent  period 
they  were  inferior  to  the  Philistines  as  manufacturers, 
and  obliged  to  go  to  them  to  get  their  axes  and  coulters 
sharpened.  They  appear  here  inferior  also  as  warriors, 
and  except  when  led  by  some  champion  under  miracu- 
lous impulses,  they  were  not  able  to  stand  before  them 
in  battle.  From  the  confession  of  the  men  of  Judah  in 
the  eleventh  verse,  it  is  clear  their  spirit  was  broken, 
and  their  heart  was  as  water.  Their  only  desire  was  to 
escape  farther  annoyance  from  the  Philistines  by  making 


SAMSON    BOUND    AT    ETAM.  225 

Samson  their  prisoner.  They  were  more  anxious  to  sac- 
rifice him  to  their  enemies  than  to  follow  him  in  a  glori- 
ous struggle  to  victory  or  death.  After  the  evidence 
they  had  of  his  power  to  deliver  them,  their  pusillanimity 
seems  almost  incredible. 

Why  are  ye  come  up  against  us  ?  said  the  men  of  Judah 
to  the  Philistines.  We  pay  our  tribute  punctually  :  we 
have  committed  no  new  offense.  True  ;  said  the  lordly 
Philistines,  we  have  no  new  cause  of  complaint  against 
you.  But  there  is  a  Hebrew  harbored  among  you,  or 
dwelling  in  your  territory,  who  has  done  us  a  great  deal 
of  mischief.  To  bind  Samson  are  we  come  up,  to  do  to 
him,  as  he  hath  done  to  us.  And  then  the  men  of  Judah, 
three  thousand  strong,  went  to  the  top  of  the  rock  Etam 
to  bind  Samson  to  deliver  him  into  the  hands  of  the  Phil- 
istines. Shame,  ye  men  of  Judah  !  Why  did  you  not 
rather  put  your  giant  judge,  Jehovah's  lieutenant-general, 
at  the  head  of  your  forces,  and  strike  a  blow  for  God 
and  liberty  ?  And  they  said  to  Samson,  Do  you  not  know 
that  we  are  under  the  yoke  of  the  Philistines,  and  that 
we  are  not  able  to  shake  it  off !  Why  then  are  you  con- 
tinually insulting  and  provoking  them  ?  Do  you  not 
know  that  we  must  smart  for  all  your  provocations  ? 
But  now  mark  the  hero's  reply.  He  speaks  with  becom- 
ing magnanimity.  He  does  not  upbraid  them  as  he 
might  very  justly  have  done  for  their  want  of  honor  and 
courage  ;  but  generously  forbearing  all  reproach,  stipu- 
lates only  that  they  shall  not  lay  hands  on  him  them- 
selves. I  have  done  to  them,  says  Samson,  only  as  they 
have  done  unto  me.  But  swear  unto  me,  that  ye  will 
not  fall  upon  me  yourselves,  and  you  may  bind  me,  and 
deliver  me  into  their  hands. 


j* 


226  THE    GIANT    JUIHiK. 

Samson  must  have  been  strongly  posted  to  render  it 
necessary  for  so  large  a  force  to  come  to  take  him,  or 
they  must  have  had  a  most  extraordinary  idea  of  his 
strength  and  courage.  It  is  a  mooted  point  with  com- 
mentators whether  he  had  a  body  guard  of  tried  men,  or 
was  alone.  I  should  think  from  the  nature  of  his  office 
and  from  this  whole  history  that  he  was  alone,  and  with- 
out any  warrior  band.  But  I  see  no  reason  why  he 
could  not  have  delivered  himself  from  the  men  of  Judah, 
as  easily  as  he  did  soon  afterwards  from  the  Philistines, 
except  that  he  had  no  divine  commission  to  kill  his 
countrymen.  Nor  is  there  any  evidence  that  he  had  any 
wish  ever  to  imbue  his  hand  in  their  blood.  His  mis- 
sion was  specific.  Nor  can  I  find  any  justifiable  excuse 
for  his  cousins,  the  men  of  Judah.  The  Philistines  were 
their  oppressors.  They  were  the  enemies  of  their  fathers 
and  of  their  religion.  God  had  raised  up  Samson  to  be 
a  deliverer.  Why  then  did  they  not  now  strike  for  their 
altars  and  their  sires,  their  wives  and  their  little  ones  ? 
Instead  of  this,  with  craven  heart,  they  bind  their  God- 
sent  champion,  Avho  voluntarily  surrenders  himself  to 
them,  to  deliver  him  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines.  It 
was  nothing  that  Samson  was  not  of  their  tribe.  He  u'as 
a  Hebrew.  It  was  nothing  that  Washington  was  of  Vir- 
ginia rather  than  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  an  Ameri- 
can. And  we,  though  of  different  states,  are  all  Americans. 
We  have  one  father,  one  constitution  and  one  destiny. 

In  the  stipulation  also  that  they  would  not  fall  upon  him 
themselves,  there  is  still  greater  shame.  I  am  painfully 
aware  that  some  excuses  are  alleged  Cor  tlieir  not  rally- 
ing to  his  standard  Iliat  are  not  allogelher  groundless. 
It  is  said,  that  Samson  was  nol  really  a  tit  leader,  because 


SAMSON'S  STRENGTH  MIRACULOUS.  227 

his  intellect  was  weak  and  his  character  sadly  inconsist- 
ent. Though  of  gigantic  physical  strength,  his  character 
was  not  well  balanced.  But  was  his  intellect  weak  in 
the  inverse  ratio  that  his  body  was  strong?  Now  even 
if  we  admit  that  such  is  the  ordinary  law  of  mankind,  it 
does  not  follow  that  it  must  have  been  true  in  his  case. 
For  as  has  already  been  remarked,  Samson  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  of  gigantic  stature,  nor  to  have  had 
gigantic  strength,  except  when  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
moved  him.  That  he  was  naturally  strong,  and  of  pow- 
erful muscle,  we  admit  ;  but  his  great  strength  ivas 
miraculous.  It  could  not  therefore  have  impaired  his 
mind  on  the  principle  suggested  above.  It  is  true  that 
great  physical  powers  are  sometimes  possessed  by  those 
who  have  but  little  mental  energy,  and  less  moral  char- 
acter; but  has  any  law  of  nature  been  discovered  making 
a  large  man  or  a  strong  man  a  bad  man  ?  If  a  strong 
body  must  be  the  dwelling  of  a  weak  mind,  we  have 
been  erroneously  taught  —  that  the  perfect  man  is  a  sound 
mind  in  a  sound  body.  We  admit  that  Samson's  mental 
energy  and  moral  sense  strike  us  as  dwarfish  in  compari- 
son with  his  great  bodily  strength,  Not  to  such  a  degree, 
however,  as  to  excuse  the  men  of  Judah  for  not  trusting 
in  him  as  God's  agent.  Though  a  strong  man,  Samson 
was  not  a  truly  great  man.  Speaking  from  our  starting- 
point  of  his  history,  we  should  say,  his  attacks  upon  the 
Philistines  were  badly  planned,  and  the  results  wholly 
insignificant.  He  was  a  man  sadly  wanting  in  self-con- 
trol, mental  discipline,  and  refinement  of  conscience. 
His  two  great  passions  were  love  and  revenge,  and  both 
always  directed  towards  the  same  people,  and  both  badly 
managed.  He  seems  to  have  done  nothing  towards  the 


228  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

accomplishment  of  his  great  mission,  except  when  under 
some  supernatural  impulse.  The  victories  of  Barak, 
Gideon  and  Jepthah  near  his  own  time,  were  of  more 
enduring  brilliancy  and  effect.  The  fact  is  Samson  was 
not  the  man  he  ought  to  have  been.  He  suffered  his  sen- 
suality to  mar  his  otherwise  greatness  of  character.  His 
own  countrymen  did  not  rally  to  his  standard.  They 
had  not  confidence  in  him.  His  character  was  so  spas- 
modic, he  acted  so  by  fits  and  starts,  that  they  distrusted 
his  prudence.  And  are  they  much  to  be  blamed  for 
withholding  their  confidence  from  a  man  who  was  so  often 
the  slave  of  his  own  senses  ?  A  pretty  face  or  a  few 
tears  were  quite  enough  to  unman  him.  He  was  a 
teetotaler  in  one  way,  but  very  intemperate  in  another. 
If  wine  did  not  ruin  him,  women  did.  The  elders  of 
Judah  and  the  warriors  of  his  own  tribe  might  then  well 
hesitate  to  risk  their  fortunes  and  lives  under  the  com- 
mand of  one,  who  could  repeatedly  sacrifice  the  most 
important  interests  to  a  woman's  sighs  and  reveal  his  holy 
secret  at  the  importunities  of  a  quasi  wife. 

The  utter  worthlessness  of  the  two  new  cords  is  very 
strongly  expressed  in  the  original.  His  bands  loosed ; 
that  is,  melted  from  his  hands.  They  became  as  flax 
that  was  burnt  with  fire.  That  is,  they  were  like  flaxen 
ropes  burnt,  still  retaining  their  coil  and  shape,  but 
without  strength  ;  mere  cinders, which  as  soon  as  touched, 
fall  to  pieces.  So  worthless  were  the  two  new  cords 
with  which  they  bound  Samson  fast,  when  the  Spirit  of 
the  LORD  came  mightily  upon  him. 

Listen  now  to  the  savage  yell-,  of  the  Philistine  hosts 
as  they  saw  the  great  Hebrew  bound  and  coining  to 
them  from  the  rock  from  which  they  were  not  able  to 


THE    NEW   JAW-BONE.  229 

fetch  him.  But  their  shout  was  his  signal  for  action. 
Rending  the  new  cords  as  burnt  flax,  "  he  found  a  new 
jaw-bone  of  an  ass,  and  put  forth  his  hand  and  took  it, 
and  slew  a  thousand  men  therewith."  The  new  of  the 
text  is  applied  by  some,  not  to  the  jaw-bone,  but  to  the 
carcass,  and  rendered  tabid  or  putrid.  If  so,  then  the 
idea  is,  that  the  body  being  in  a  putrid  state,  he  could 
the  more  easily  separate  the  bone  from  the  integuments, 
and  thus  procure  such  a  bone  as  would  be  most  fit  for 
execution.  But  if  the  term  new  is  applied  to  the  body, 
it  is  also  true  of  the  jaw-bone,  and  its  being  new  was  of 
importance,  for  it  was  therefore  heavy  and  tough.  It 
would  bear  harder  blows  without  breaking.  And  never 
was  there  a  more  terrible  weapon  than  this  jaw-bone  in 
Samson's  hand.  Never  did  an  ass's  jaw-bone  do  such 
service  since  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

The  sixteenth  verse  is  Samson's  pean,  or  hymn  of 
triumph.  Though  rather  a  silent  man,  and  heretofore 
as  modest  as  brave,  there  is  nothing  censurable  in  his 
sinffin"1  after  the  manner  of  his  times  a  stanza,  in  com- 

O         O  * 

memoration  of  his  own  exploits. 

"  With  the  jaw-bone  of  an  ass,  heaps  upon  heaps, 
With  the  jaw  of  an  ass  have  I  slain  a  thousand  men." 

The  beauty  and  force  of  this  verse  can  hardly  be  appre- 
ciated without  a  knowledge  of  the  original,  where  we 
have  a  paranomasia  on  the  identity  of  the  terms  for  ass 
and  a  heap.  The  point  seems  to  be  in  Samson's  saying, 
that  the  Philistines  fell  under  his  blows  with  the  jaw- 
bone of  an  ass,  as  tamely  as  if  they  themselves  had 
been  stupid  asses — "heaps  upon  heaps." 

"  A  thousand "  here  is   not  necessarily  to  be  under- 


230  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

stood  as  a  definite  number,  but  denoting  a  great  many. 
The  young  women  in  singing  David's  praises  when  he 
came  as  "  the  conquering  hero "  from  the  killing  of 
Goliah,  said,  he  hath  slain  his  "  tens  of  thousands," 
when  in  fact  he  had  killed  but  one  person.  He  was,  it 
is  true,  a  giant,  who  was  worth  ten  thousand  common 
Philistines.  To  have  slain  so  many  with  a  Damascus 
blade  would  have  been  a  prodigious  feat ;  what  then  shall 
we  say  of  its  being  done  with  the  jaw-bone  of  an  ass  ? 
No  doubt,  fear  helped  him.  The  Philistines  seeing 
Samson's  cords  broken,  remembering  what  he  had  done 
at  Askelon,  and  struck  with  terror  at  the  tremendous 
execution  of  his  giant  arm  ;  and  expecting  that  now  all 
the  armed  thousands  of  Judah  would  join  him,  and  that 
they  would  all  be  dead  men,  they  fled,  and  in  their  dis- 
orderly flight  many  of  them  were  killed.  The  victory, 
however,  was  not  in  the  weapon,  nor  in  Samson's  arm, 
nor  because  of  the  Philistines'  terror.  It  was  GOD  that 
nerved  his  heart  and  strengthened  his  arm.  The  armed 
men  of  Judah  could  have  furnished  Samson  with  a 
sword ;  but  greater  contempt  was  cast  upon  these  idola- 
ters by  laying  them  "  heaps  upon  heaps "  with  a  jaw- 
bone. 

And  called  that  place  Ramath-Lehi.  Twice  before  it 
is  called  Lehi  by  anticipation.  Lehi  was  used  for  brev- 
ity's sake.  Such  contractions  were  common  with  He- 
brew proper  names.  Jerusalem  was  called  also  Salem. 
liamath-Lehi  means  "  the  hill  of  the  jaw-bone,"  or  "the 
casting  away  of  the  jaw-bone."  For  here  he  cast  away 
the  jaw-bone  out  of  his  hand.  He  did  not  value  this 
singular,  but  exceedingly  effective  weapon  as  much  as 
Sir  Walter  Scott  did  Rob  Roy's  long  gun,  which  is  to 


THE    INVOCATION    WELL.  231 

• 

be  seen  in  the  armory  of  Abbottsford.  Samson  was  not 
a  good  collector  of  relics.  That  new-old-jaw-bone 
would  be  a  fortune  in  our  day. 

The  excessive  thirst  of  which  he  expected  to  die,  or 
to  be  obliged  to  surrender  to  the  Philistines,  was  the 
natural  consequence  of  excessive  fatigue.  Josephus 
thinks  this  dreadful  thirst  was  brought  on  him  for  his 
pride,  in  not  acknowledging  God  in  his  triumphal  song. 
Heaps  upon  heaps,  /  have  slain  a  thousand  men,  said 
he ;  but  not  a  word  of  praise  to  Jehovah  for  helping 
him.  God  was  not  recognized  in  the  affair  at  all.  Like 
Nebuchadnezzar,  saying,  Is  not  this  great  Babylon  that 
I  have  built  ?  And  the  judgment  of  God  fell  on  him 
from  heaven  till  he  was  humbled  to  acknowledge  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Most  High.  Whether  this  is  the 
proper  explanation  of  Samson's  thirst  or  not,  pride  is  a 
great  sin,  and  high  looks  are  an  abomination  to  the 
Lord. 

But  God  clave  a  hollow  place  that  was  in  the  jaw- 
hone,  and  there  came  ivater  thereout.  Here  is  an  error 
in  our  translation.  The  fountain  of  water  was  not  in 
the  jaw-bone.  The  mistake  of  our  translators,  who  are 
generally  so  correct,  was  doubtless  made  in  this  way : 
The  same  Hebrew  word  is  rendered  both  Lehi,  a  proper 
name,  and  also  jaw-bone.  The  mistake  therefore  was 
in  confounding  the  name  of  the  place  for  the  instru- 
ment of  the  victory  from  which  the  place  derived  its 
name.  The  meaning  is,  God  clave  a  hollow  place  of 
the  rock  or  earth  at  Lehi,  and  a  fountain  gushed  forth 
and  continued  to  flow  up  to  the  time  of  the  writing  of 
the  history.  And  in  memory  of  the  deliverance,  the 
fountain  was  called  En-hak-kore,  that  is,  the  well  af  him 


232  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

that  cried ;  "  Invocation  well."  Tradition  still  points 
out  the  stream  that  gushed  from  the  grotto  of  Lehi  for 
the  refreshing  of  the  Hebrew  warrior. 

We  close  this  chapter  with  a  lesson  from  the  shouting 
of  the  Philistines  on  the  eve  of  their  terrible  slaughter. 
Their  defiant  shout  was  the  knell  of  their  complete 
overthrow.  And  it  is  still  true  that  a  dreadful  sound  is 
in  the  ears  of  the  wicked :  in  prosperity  the  destroyer 
shall  come  upon  him.  Job  xv  :  21.  The  triumphing 
of  the  ungodly  is  short.  Their  prosperity  is  their  de- 
struction. Had  there  been  as  many  devils  as  there 
were  Philistines,  when  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  upon 
Samson,  he  would  have  turned  their  shoutings  into  wail- 
ings  quite  as  easily.  Never  are  the  ungodly  more  to  be 
pitied  than  when  their  prospects  seem  to  be  the  bright- 
est. Their  fancied  security  is  their  ruin.  We  are  told 
that  more  vessels  are  lost  in  a  fair  gale  than  in  tempests. 
Nothing  is  so  much  to  be  feared  as  a  sinner's  apparent 
peace.  Present  impunity  does  not  argue  the  abatement 
of  the  divine  wrath.  The  delays  of  providence  do  not 
change  the  nature  of  sin.  It  remains  intrinsically  the 
abominable  thing  that  God  hates.  In  the  very  nature 
of  things  it  is  impossible  that  sin  should  any  where  or  at 
any  time  meet  with  his  approbation.  The  patience  of 
God  does  not  therefore  imply  any  mitigation  of  the 
enormity  of  wrong-doing.  It  is  no  proof  of  divine  indif- 
ference to  sin,  that  God  does  not  instantly  express  his 
abhorrence  of  it,  and  pour  out  his  wrath  upon  the 
offender..  Men  may  kindle  immediately  into  a  trans- 
port of  passion  when  insulted  ;  but  God  is  not  a  man, 
and  therefore  we  are  not  consumed.  He  punishes  sin, 
not  from  passion,  but  from  principle  —  not  to  revenge 


EVIL    DOIXft   A   JUDGMENT.  233 

himself  for  any  injury  he  sustains  from  sin,  but  in  order 
to  maintain  a  righteous  government — such  a  government 
as  is  necessary  for  the  happiness  of  his  creatures.  Such 
an  administration  is  also  agreeable  to  his  infinite  holi- 
ness. And  the  punishment  of  sin  will  only  be  the  more 
severe,  because  of  the  aggravations  of  abused  mercy. 
Delay  in  a  human  government  may  lessen  the  certainty 
of  punishment,  by  leaving  room  for  escape,  or  for  the 
loss  of  opportunity  or  ability  for  inflicting  the  punish- 
ment ;  but  it  is  never  so  with  God.  One  day  is  with 
the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as 
one  day.  There  is,  then,  no  statute  of  limitation  within 
which  process  against  the  sinner  must  begin,  or  within 
which  his  cause  must  be  tried  and  the  sentence  executed. 
Nay,  though  the  final  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is 
sometimes  delayed,  and  therefore  the  hearts  of  men  are 
more  fully  set  to  evil,  still  the  accusation  begins  in  most 
cases  immediately.  Conscience  speaks  out.  Violated 
laws  plead  against  the  transgressor,  and  his  ways  are 
found  to  be  hard.  Evil  doing  is  itself  a  judgment.  And  the 
delay  to  execute  the  sentence  against  evil  doing  is  some- 
times a  part  of  the  sentence.  The  delay,  if  not  im- 
proved, is  not  a  blessing.  As  in  divine  mercies,  the 
rule  is  grace  upon  grace,  one  favor  received  thankfully, 
drawing  another,  so  it  is  with  punishments ;  if  not  im- 
proved— one  stroke  draws  down  another.  It  were  often 
a  great  mercy  to  arrest  the  guilty  in  their  career  of 
crime.  There  is  something  awful  in  being  given  over 
to  blindness  of  mind  and  hardness  of  heart,  to  treasure- 
up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath,  by  abusing  the  long- 
suffering,  and  patience,  and  goodness  of  God.  The 
men  of  Judah  were  restrained  from  laying  their  hands 


234  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

upon  Samson.  And  the  Philistines  in  shouting  for  joy 
at  his  surrender,  were  not  able  to  touch  him.  Wicked 
men  are  often  not  so  bad  as  they  would  be,  if  they  were 
not  restrained.  They  are  not  more  cruel,  simply  be- 
cause they  cannot  be.  Even  in  Samson's  forbearance 
towards  his  own  countrymen,  there  was  a  divine  hand. 
He  was  sent  against  the  Philistines,  and  would  not 
therefore  touch  his  spiritless  countrymen.  O  that  men 
would  remember  that  a  thing  is  not  good  simply  because 
it  seems  to  prosper,  but  because  it  is  according  to  the 
will  of  God.  That  only  is  right  which  God  commands. 
Sin  is  evil,  not  because  it  is  punished,  but  because  it  is 
disobedience  —  it  is  something  forbidden.  Any  delay, 
therefore,  of  sentence  against  evil  doers,  instead  of  en- 
couraging them  to  continue  in  sin,  should  melt  them  to 
penitential  sorrow.  Instead  of  lulling  them  into  secu- 
rity, it  ought  to  alarm  them.  Nothing  but  pardon  secures 
their  safety.  No  length  of  time,  nor  flight,  nor  distance 
from  the  place  of  sinning  can  give  any  true  relief. 
Nothing  but  pardon  can  save  the  sinner.  He  must  be 
forgiven,  or  sink  to  endless  perdition.  But  there  is  for- 
giveness with  God,  that  he  may  be  feared.  lie  that 
confesseth  and  forsake  th  his  sins  shall  find  mercy. 


Cjre  DreaHul  Relapse  from  (Stoat. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE  DREADFUL  EELAPSE  FROM  ETAM. 


1 But  what  availed  this  temperance,  not  complete, 

Against  another  object  more  enticing  ? 
What  boots  it  at  one  gate  to  make  defense, 
And  at  another  to  let  in  the  foe  ?"  —  Samson. 


IN  the  first  three  verses  of  the  sixteenth  chapter  of 
Judges,  we  have  a  brief  account  of  Samson's  visit  to 
Gaza,  and  of  what  befel  him  there.  Then  went  Samson 
to  Gaza,  a  city  about  sixty  miles  southwest  from  Jeru- 
salem, and  only  a  few  miles  from  Askelon.  It  is  one  of 
the  oldest  cities  in  the  world,  and  is  always  represented 
in  the  Old  Testament  as  a  place  of  considerable  import- 
ance. It  was  once  a  city  of  great  wealth.  The  present 
town  is  beautifully  situated  on  a  hill,  amidst  gardens  of 
olive  and  date  trees.  The  houses  are  mostly  of  stone, 
but  its  inhabitants  are  poor.  Its  chief  articles  of  trade 
are  cotton  and  soap. 

The  Hebrew  term  zonah,  and  its  corresponding  one  in 
Greek,  porne,  which  is  applied  to  the  woman  of  Gaza, 
is  a  word  of  uncertain  signification.  Our  word  harlot  is 
not  a  word  of  doubtful  meaning,  but  the  Hebrew  zonah 
is  not  always  its  equivalent.  There  is  nothing  in  the 


238  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

history  of  Rahab  that  renders  it  probable  that  she  was 
a  woman  of  bad  reputation.  She  entertained  the  He- 
brew spies,  and  afterwards  became  the  wife  of  the 
Hebrew  prince  Salmon.  Matt,  i :  5.  She  was  an  inn- 
keeper. If  the  term  zonah,  then,  was  ever  applied  to 
her  in  a  bad  sense,  it  must  have  belonged  to  a  previous 
period  of  her  life,  for  there  is  no  evidence,  nor  any 
probability  that  she  was  an  abandoned  woman  at  the 
time  the  Hebrew  spies  entered  Jericho.  Naturally,  as 
strangers,  and  on  a  mission  of  so  much  peril  and  import- 
ance, they  would  seek  a  house  of  private  entertainment, 
such  as  Rahab  kept.  The  Chaldee  calls  the  woman  that 
Samson  lodged  with  an  innkeeper.  Schleusner  says  the 
word  may  mean  one  that  prepares  and  sells  food,  and 
receives  strangers  to  entertain  them.  Some  think  it 
means  an  idolatress,  because  women  that  were  idola- 
^resses  were  often  of  an  abandoned  character.  And 
some  contend  that  this  Gazite  woman  was  not  the  host- 
ess at  all,  but  that  Samson  met  her  accidentally  at  the 
inn  where  he  stopt.  And  it  must  be  remembered,  also, 
that  in  those  times  female  innkeepers  trafficked  with 
their  personal  charms  at  the  same  time  that  they  enter- 
tained travelers. 

The  original  for  harlot  is,  then,  not  without  difficulty ; 
and  it  may  be  almost  rash  to  hazard  an  opinion  where 
there  is  a  difference  between  so  many  learned  men.  But 
in  view  of  all  the  authorities  within  my  reach,  I  conclude 
our  translators  are  correct ;  and  consequently  this  woman 
was  not  Samson's  wife,  and  his  conduct  at  Gaza  is  a 
most  painful  specimen  of  imperfect  morality,  and  full  of 
warning.  Truly  there  is  no  man  so  deep  but  he  has 
some  shallow  place. 


WHY   IS    SAMSON    IN    GAZA.  239 

The  previous  chapter  is  full  of  adventure,  but  the 
vicissitudes  of  our  hero  are  by  no  means  ended,  though 
it  is  twenty  years  since  his  victory  with  the  jaw-bone, 
and  his  deliverence  from  dying  thirst  at  Lehi ;  still  we 
find  trouble  following  trouble,  and  no  wisdom  gleaned 
from  the  past.  His  last  years  do  not  bear  scrutiny  as 
well  as  his  earlier  ones.  Considering  his  mission,  and 
his  relation  to  the  Philistines,  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
his  motives  for  going  into  one  of  their  principal  cities. 
It  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  his  meeting  with  the 
Gazite  woman  was  anything  more  than  accidental.  To 
see  her  could  not  have  been  the  main  purpose  for  which 
he  went  to  Gaza.  As  he  must  have  been  well  known, 
it  is  passing  strange  that  he  should  have  trusted  himself 
in  one  of  their  strongholds,  and  then  should  have  behaved 
so  imprudently.  How  could  one  of  his  stalwart  frame  — 
whose  name  was  a  raw-head-and-bloody-bones  in  all  the 
village  stories  of  Philistia — and  of  Nazarite  hair  and 
beard,  have  expected  to  escape  notice  ?  It  was  scarcely 
necessary  for  any  one  from  Askelon  or  Timnath  to  have 
pointed  him  out.  At  all  events,  it  was  soon  whispered 
in  the  streets  of  Gaza  that  Samson  was  come ;  and, 
either  because  they  did  not  know  just  where  to  find  him, 
or  being  afraid  to  seize  him  at  once,  they  set  sentinels  at 
the  gates.  They  now  felt  sure  that  they  had  caged  the 
lion,  and  Samson,  though  not  where  he  should  have 
been,  was  not  insensible  to  danger.  Aroused  at  mid- 
night by  the  whispering  and  gathering  in  the  streets, 
and  suspecting  what  was  intended,  he  proceeds  straight 
to  the  gates,  and  carries  away  the  doors  and  posts  upon 
his  shoulders.  The  guards  were  either  terror  smitten, 
and  not  able  to  face  him,  or  were  asleep.  They  made 


240  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

no  resistance,  and  he  seems  to  have  had  too  much  con- 
tempt for  the  gate  to  kick  it  down,  or  too  much  refine- 
ment, for  he  lifts  it  off  by  mere  force,  and  lays  it  on  his 
shoulders,  and  carries  it  away  to  the  top  of  a  hill  towards 
Hebron.  The  doors  of  Bible  lands  are  not  shaped  into 
an  arch,  nor  fitted  into  the  wall  or  facing  as  with  us. 
They  had  not  our  hinges.  The  door  fell  into  sockets 
below,  and  was  fastened  in  a  projecting  bracket  above. 
Such  were  the  doors  of  Egypt  and  of  the  Holy  Land. 
The  sepulchres  of  the  Nile  and  of  Jerusalem  are  proof; 
and  a  knowledge  of  this  fact  explains  the  anxious  inquiry 
of  the  devout  women  coming  to  our  Lord's  tomb,  "  Who 
shall  roll  us  away  the  stone  ?  "  That  is,  lift  it  out  of  the 
groove  or  socket.  The  great  difficulty  in  opening  such 
doors  was  their  weight.  Samson's  strength  must,  there- 
fore, have  been  prodigious,  since,  according  to  the  text, 
he  lifted  the  heavy  town  gate,  bars,  brackets,  beams, 
posts  and  all,  and  carried  them  to  the  top  of  a  distant 
hill.  The  text  does  not  mean  that  he  carried  the  city 
gate  all  the  way  to  Hebron,  which  was  at  least  twenty 
miles  from  Gaza ;  literally,  "  to  the  top  of  a  hill  which 
looketh  towards  Hebron  ;"  but  we  cannot  now  identify  it. 
These  brief  historical  notes  are  perhaps  sufficient  to 
explain  the  text.  Let  us,  then,  pause  with  two  histori- 
cal periods  before  us,  and  review  our  story  from  the  top 
of  the  rock  Etam,  and  from  the  top  of  the  hill  towards 
Hebron,  where  Samson  put  down  the  gate  of  Gaza. 
These  two  historic  points  comprehend  twenty  years  of 
his  life,  and  a  review  of  them  is  a  fcnrful  warning  to  ;ill 
fitful  professors  of  religion,  and  to  all  backsliders.  Here 
we  see  a  character  great  and  marvelous  for  supernatural 
exploits,  spoiled,  through  a  spiritual  relapse,  and  by 


SAMSOX  CARRYING  AWAY  THE  GATES  OF  GAZA 

"  And  Samson  lay  till  midnight,  and  avos  at  midnight,  anil  took  the  doors  ol 
the  gate  of  the  city  upon  his  shoulders  and  carried  them  up  to  the  top  of  an 
hill  that  is  before  Hebron."  Page  240. 


tfNi-     ~IT 


SAMSON'S  MOTHER  INQUIRING.  241 

inconsistencies.  Remarkable  as  is  the  heroic  age  of 
Israel's  judges,  Samson  is  certainly  the  most  remarkable 
of  them  all.  And  after  all  we  scarcely  get  a  clear  view 
of  his  inner  life.  So  thick  and  heavy  are  the  clouds 
that  hang  over  him,  that  if  an  apostle  had  not  given  him 
a  place  among  spiritual  heroes,  we  should  have  despaired 
of  him  altogether.  It  is  true,  however,  and  in  this  there 
is  hope,  that  amid  all  his  fearful  backslidings,  he  never 
seems  to  have  forgotten  his  commission  against  the  Phil- 
istines. His  conscience  was  kept  faithful  to  this  behest 
by  his  own  passionate  hatred  of  them.  But  this  is  only 
another  proof  of  God's  sovereignty,  which  maketh  the 
wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  even  as  the  appetite  and 
relish  for  our  food  proves  his  wisdom  and  benevolence. 
It  was  not  enough  to  make  food  nourish  us ;  God  has 
made  it  agreeable  to  us.  So  he  is  pleased  to  make  our 
duty  and  our  interest  in  the  long  run  lie  in  the  same 
line.  Duty  is  pleasure. 

While  Samson  dwelt  in  Etarn,  I  take  it  there  was  a 
revival  of  grace  in  his  soul.  If  so,  it  was  a  most  criti- 
cal and  deeply  interesting  period  in  his  life.  Suppose 
we  climb  up  to  the  top  of  the  rock,  and  from  his  retreat 
look  back  to  the  home  of  his  innocent  youth  at  Zorah, 
and  inquire  how  his  mother  takes  all  these  things.  Ah, 
his  mother  ;  is  she  yet  ah" ve  ?  Then  how  many  conflict- 
ing fears  and  hopes  must  have  filled  her  mind !  Myste- 
rious and  wholly  inexplicable  events  have  marked  her 
son's  life.  She  remembers  well  the  angel's  bright 
appearance,  and  how  he  rode  up  towards  heaven  on  the 
smoke  of  their  accepted  sacrifice,  as  if  it  had  been  a 
chariot — and  how  earnestly  she  had  been  commanded  to 
demean  herself,  and  to  bring  up  the  child  as  one  pree'm- 

K 


242  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

inently  consecrated  to  God,  and  to  be  a  deliverer  of  the 
chosen  people.  She  thinks  over  and  over  his  strange 
fancy  for  the  woman  of  Timnath,  and  how  it  was  not  at 
all  agreeable  to  her  and  her  husband,  that  he  should 
marry  a  Philistine,  but  that  they  submitted,  hoping  it 
was  of  the  Lord.  She  is  now,  too,  acquainted  with  the 
lion  adventure,  the  bees,  and  the  honey.  She  recollects 
the  wedding  ceremonies,  feasting,  and  riddles,  the  divorce 
and  the  terrible  tragedies  at  Askelon  and  at  Timnath. 
She  wonders  how  all  this  is  to  fulfill  his  mission.  She 
hopes,  as  only  a  parent  can  hope ;  a  thousand  times  does 
she  think  over  the  past,  and  try  to  read  the  future ;  a 
thousand  times  did  she  interrogate  herself,  saying,  Can 
this  be  my  Nazarite  boy  ?  Are  these  things  realities,  or 
visions  and  dreams  ?  Where  are  they  all  to  end  ?  When 
will  the  mystery  be  explained  ?  O  how  I  loved  that 
child !  What  great  hopes  I  entertained  of  him  !  If  she 
had  not  been  a  mother  of  faith  and  principle  equal  to 
her  comprehension  and  penetration  of  judgment,  she 
could  not  have  sustained  herself  under  such  trials. 

But  what  of  the  hero  himself?  Think  you  he  retired 
in  disgust  from  the  hip  and  thigh  slaughter  ?  Or  did  he 
dwell  in  the  top  of  the  rock  Etam  for  safety  ?  Or  after 
the  manner  of  the  lion,  having  torn  as  many  struggling 
victims  as  he  could,  did  he  leave  them  mangled  and  dying, 
and  seek  this  solitary  abode  to  gloat  over  his  sat  \-  lied 
revenge  ?  Or  did  he  go  up  to  Etam  sulky  and  proud4 
like  Achilles  to  his  tent  on  the  ^Egean  shore  ?  Or  like 
a  wild  Bedouin  or  Camanche,  having  revenged  his 
wrongs,  does  he  seek  his  mountain  home,  to  scowl  defi- 
ance upon  his  pursuers  from  his  impregnable  fortress  ? 
There  may  have  been  a  mingling  of  some  of  these 


WHY   HE    DWELLS    IN    ETAM.  243 

ings  in  his  breast,  when  he  went  up  to  Etam ;  but  I  think 
his  purpose  was  to  escape  for  a  time  from  all  worldly 
excitements.  He  was  weary  of  the  battle  ?  He  felt 
his  life  to  be  a  mystery.  He  was  astonished  both  at  his 
successes  and  his  short  comings.  He  saw  the  mighty 
power  of  God  in  his  victories,  and  his  goodness  in  his 
own  deliverance.  He  wished,  therefore,  for  a  sheltered 
place — for  a  quiet  and  safe  retreat  for  prayer  and  medi- 
tation. Impetuous  as  he  was — tumultuous  as  his  life 
had  been — he  was  not  thoughtless.  He  has  not  wholly 
escaped  from  the  influence  of  his  mother's  early  lessons, 
and  his  father's  fervent  prayers.  He  still  feels  that 
Nazarite  vows  are  upon  him,  and  though  painfully  con- 
scious of  many  sad  failures  in  duty,  he  has  still  a  deep 
yearning  of  soul  toward  God,  and  an  earnest  desire  to 
fulfill  his  mission,  so  as  to  secure  the  divine  approbation. 
There  is  with  him  still  space  for  repentance,  and  for 
renewing  of  his  vows.  In  his  retirement,  conscious  of 
his  many  failures,  restless  thoughts,  "  Like  a  deadly 
swarm  of  hornets  armed,"  must  have  often  rushed  upon 
him.  Piety,  patriotism,  and  personal  feelings  were  all 
working  together  in  him  to  fulfill  his  mission.  For  we 
must  not  suppose  that  God's  Spirit  is  easily  discouraged, 
and  departs  wholly  from  a  man  when  he  falls  once,  or 
even  several  times,  into  sin.  There  is,  indeed,  a  sin 
unto  death,  a  sin  for  which  no  prayer  or  sacrifice  can 
avail,  for  which  there  is  no  forgiveness.  There  is  a 
point  of  rebellion  beyond  which  no  pardon  can  be 
extended.  God's  Spirit  does  sometimes  cease  to  strive 
with  men.  Ephraim  may  be  left  to  his  idols,  because  he 
would  not  leave  them.  Men  may  quench  and  grieve 
away  the  Spirit  of  God  by  which  they  might  be  sealed 


244  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

to  the  day  o  redemption.  But  the  general  rule  is,  that 
God's  long-suffering  is  as  apparent  as  his  sovereignty. 
He  bears  long  with  the  children  of  men.  The  Holy 
Spirit  does  not  abandon  the  sinner  for  a  slight  offense ; 
and  sometimes  we  see  a  spiritual  resurrection  after  many 
long  years  of  apparent  death.  The  good  seed  sown  lies 
long  under  the  cold  snows  that  have  fallen  from  the 
mountains,  but  it  has  not  perished.  Worclly  entangle- 
ments and  passions  have  bound  it  up  like  the  pitched 
mummy  cloths  of  Egypt ;  but  the  seed  still  has  the  liv- 
ing germ  within  it ;  and  at  last  it  springs  up  in  the  soul, 
and  blooms  into  eternal  life,  it  may  be,  long  after  the 
careful  parent  that  sowed  it  in  faith,  and  watered  it  with 
many  tears,  has  entered  into  rest.  Sometimes,  also,  we 
see  the  piety  of  youth  reviving,  and  again  budding,  after 
it  has  seemed  to  have  suffered  a  grievous  blight,  and 
even  to  have  been  uprooted  forever. 

Dear  parent,  after  all  the  frustration  of  your  hopes — 
after  repeated  disappointments,  hope  on — never  despair 
—  the  root  to  this  very  hour  that  you  have  planted  and 
watered,  though  it  be  long  in  sprouting,  may  continue 
alive  ;  and  yet, "  through  the  scent  of  water  it  may  bud." 

We  shall  do  well,  also,  to  remember  that  it  is  not 
without  affliction  that  youthful  piety  is  generally  recov- 
ered after  a  relapse.  The  forcing  heat  of  a  furnace  may 
be  required,  after  years  of  decline,  to  make  the  tree 
"  sprout  again  and  send  forth  its  boughs  as  a  plant."  It 
is  not  the  mere  scent  of  water,  nor  the  ordinary  shower, 
nor  the  ordinary  gleams  of  sunshine,  that  can  revive  the  • 
plant  and  make  it  live  in  freshness.  It  is  often  only  the 
furnace  of  affliction  that  can  bring  us  back  from  back- 
slidings. 


SAMSON'S  GRACIOUS  EXPERIENCES.         245 

I  apprehend  Samson's  experience  of  grace  was  not 
miraculous.  Believers  in  all  ages  are  liable  to  tempta- 
tions and  relapses.  None  of  them  are  saints  upon  earth. 
The  representative  or  official  character  of  the  judges, 
prophets  and  apostles  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  their 
personal  piety;  and  consequently,  their  experience  as 
believers  is  to  be  considered  as  a  fair  ensample  for  us — 
their  experience  of  the  grace  of  God — their  penitence 
and  faith — their  hopes  and  trials  —  are  to  be  considered 
as  if  they  were  merely  believers,  and  apart  from  their 
official  characters.  David  and  Paul  as  individuals  be- 
lieved and  repented,  and  were  subject  to  like  conflicts 
with  ourselves.  The  same  is  true  of  Moses  and  Sam- 
son. When  Moses  killed  the  Egyptian,  he  fled  to  the 
wilderness.  An  undefined  future  lay  before  him.  He 
followed  his  natural  feelings,  but  was  most  graciously 
guided.  There,  in  "  meditative  solitudes,"  he  communed 
with  God,  and  pondered  over  the  condition  of  his  coun- 
trymen, until  the  hour  came  for  him  to  be  commissioned 
to  deliver  them.  And  Samson  in  like  manner,  not  find- 
ing his  countrymen  sympathizing  with  him — finding 
that  they  did  not  rally  around  him,  and  say,  lead  us 
against  the  Philistines ;  the  Lord  is  with  you ;  he  has 
raised  you  up  to  be  a  judge  in  Israel,  and  an  avenger  of 
his  people — finding  that  they  were  so  degraded  that  they 
would  not  second  his  efforts  for  their  deliverance,  and 
somewhat,  no  doubt,  with  the  same  kind  of  feelings  that 
Moses  had,  when  he  broke  the  tables  of  the  law — he 
betook  himself  to  retirement  in  the  rock  Etam. 

I  therefore  conclude  that  then,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  chapter,  does  not  mean  that  he  went  to  Gaza 
and  made  himself  vile  immediately  after  the  great  deliv- 


246  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

erance  God  had  wrought  for  him  at  Lehi.  Surely  a 
considerable  time  must  have  elapsed  after  such  an  expe- 
rience of  God's  goodness,  before  he  could  have  fallen 
into  such  a  quagmire.  Then  here  seems  to  indicate  that 
at  or  near  to  the  end  of  his  administration  of  twenty 
years,  he  went  to  Gaza,  and  soon  after  to  Sorek.  His 
exploit  at  Lehi  awed  the  Philistines  so  that  for  some 
twenty  years  they  were  comparatively  quiet.  The  time 
that  intervened  between  Samson  at  Lehi  and  Samson 
fallen  at  Gaza,  adds  to  his  guilt,  for  he  must  now  have 
been  about  forty  years  of  age,  and  of  a  varied  experience, 
and  should  have  been  more  on  his  guard  than  to  have 
fallen  into  the  toils  of  the  Gazite  woman.  In  his  fall, 
we  see  that  besetting  sins  are  deceitful  and  die  hardly. 
TJiey  have  as  many  lives  as  a  cat.  When  we  are  ready 
to  suppose  them  dead,  a  slight  occurrence  may  awaken 
them  to  a  vigorous  life.  In  our  narrative  there  is  an 
ominous  silence  as  to  how  Samson  was  employed  for 
almost  twenty  years.  All  this  time  he  did  nothing.  It 
is  no  wonder  then  that  his  inner  man  has  fallen  into  con- 
sumption. And  as  is  always  the  case,  in  the  proportion 
that  his  spiritual  life  grew  weaker  and  weaker,  his  sen- 
sual grew  stronger  and  stronger,  until  his  constitutionally 
besetting  lust  broke  forth  again,  as  a  fire  that  has  only 
been  smoldering,  when  it  was  supposed  to  have  been 
extinguished.  There  is  no  truce  in  the  war  between  the 
flesh  and  the  spirit.  The  one  or  the  other  is  prevailing. 
If  the  house  of  David  waxes  stronger,  then  the  house  of 
Saul  grows  weaker.  And  the  reverse  is  just  as  true. 
Samson's  inner  life  is  no  doubt  the  exact  type  of  thou- 
sands now.  Many  suppose  when  they  have  experi- 
enced some  special  deliverances  as  Samson  did  at  Lehi, 


HOW   THE    CITADEL    IS    TAKEN.  247 

and  have  had  some  evidence  of  the  grace  of  God,  that 
their  besetting  sins  are  overcome ;  when  in  fact,  they 
have  only  retired,  and  are  waiting  in  ambush  just  beyond 
gun  shot,  till  an  opportunity  is  presented,  for  them  to 
return  and  take  the  fort  by  storm,  as  Samson's  did  with 
him  at  Gaza.  It  were  well,  to  learn  from  Samson's  sad 
experience  to  be  on  our  guard  against  besetting  sins, 
especially  of  the  grosser  kind.  And  there  is  the  more 
need  for  watchfulness  against  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  because 
they  are  favored  in  their  approaches  to  the  citadel  of  the 
heart  and  conscience  by  many  less  constitutional  sins,  or 
sins  less  suspected  of  being  so  flagrant  and  vile,  which, 
however,  when  indulged  prepare  the  way  for  their  return, 
and  for  their  violent  onset.  In  the  presence  of  professed 
friends,  the  excitement  of  good  feeling,  your  own  self 
confidence,  a  sense  of  security,  and  obscuration  of  divine 
holiness,  a  faint  view  of  God's  law,  and  the  strong  plead- 
ings of  nature  within — then  is  the  moment  when  consti- 
tutional sinful  propensities  arouse  themselves  with  a 
fearfully  increased  fierceness.  And  it  is  just  in  this 
manner  and  by  such  slow  approaches,  and  by  such  care- 
fully prepared  entrenchments  the  heart  is  taken.  Let 
all  who  fancy  themselves  secure,  remember  the  dreadful 
warning  of  Peter — "that  if  after  having  escaped  the 
pollutions  of  the  world,  through  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  they  are  again  entangled 
therein  and  overcome,  the  latter  end  is  worse  with  them 
than  the  beginning." 

The  triumphing  of  Samson's  baser  passions  at  Gaza 
and  Sorek  was  most  certainly  preceded  by  a  decaying, 
consumptive  state  of  his  religious  character.  His  piety 
had  almost  withered  away  before  he  went  to  Gaza.  And 


248  THE    GIANT   JUDGE, 

it  is  always  thus.  One  sin  leads  the  way  to  another. 
A  decay  of  spiritual  life  allows  greater  liberty  to  the 
lusts  of  the  flesh.  Indolence,  gluttony,  worldliness,  drunk- 
eness  and  the  pampering  of  any  of  the  lusts  of  the  flesh 
are  all  of  kin.  They  are  links  in  the  same  hellward 
dragging  chain.  The  entanglement  is  not  perfected  all 
at  once.  Absence  from  the  prayer  meeting  follows  the 
neglect  of  closet  prayer.  And  a  growing  neglect  of 
divine  worship  is  followed  by  a  want  of  relish  for  God's 
word,  and  by  a  listlessness  or  want  of  interest  in  religious 
matters,  and  by  a  greater  degree  of  pleasure  in  worldly 
things ;  and  now  the  way  is  fully  prepared  for  carnal 
nature  to  rise  in  rebellion,  and  with  a  fiercer  frenzy  be- 
cause of  its  long  apparent  quiescence  or  imprisonment, 
seize  on  the  spoils.  The  course  of  backsliding  is  fear- 
fully rapid  and  agonizing  in  the  end.  Please  read  Eph, 
vi :  10-18  ;  and  Col,  iii:  1-15.  LET  HIM  THAT  THINK- 

ETH  HE  STANDETH  TAKE  HEED  LEST  HE 


£Itcy  in     diMs  f  a. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


THE  FATAL  SLEEP  IN  DELILAH'S  LAP. 

"At  length  to  lay  my  head  and  hallow'd  pledge 
Of  all  my  strength  in  the  lascivious  lap 
Of  a  deceitful  concubine,  who  shore  me 
Like  a  tame  wether,  all  my  precious  fleeces, 
Then  turn'd  me  out,  ridiculous,  despoil'd, 
Shaven,  and  disarrn'd  among  mine  enemies." 

Samson's  Confession. 

FROM  the  fourth  and  following  verses  of  the  sixteenth 
chapter,  we  have  Samson's  next  adventure.  It  is  with  a 
celebrated  beauty  of  great  histor'c  interest,  belonging  to 
the  vale  of  Sorek,  which  probably  took  its  name  from 
the  brook  that  ran  through  it  and  fell  into  the  sea  near 
Askelon.  This  vale  was  rich  and  populous,  and  prob- 
ably occupied  by  the  best  class  of  the  Philistines. 
The  myrtle,  the  vine,  acacia,  oleander,  olive,  pomegran- 
ate and  orange  were  familiar  to  the  eyes  of  the  beautiful 
Delilah.  Milton  ignores  the  woman  of  Gaza  altogether, 
nor  is  there  any  reason  to  believe  she  was  Samson's 
wife.  But  in  all  his  love  affairs  there  is  a  singular  dis- 
regard for  the  daughters  of  his  own  people.*  And  this 


*"Le  foiblesse  du  coeur  de  Samson,  dans  toute  cette  histoire,  est  encoro 
plus  etonnante  que  la  force  de  son  corps.1'—  Calmet. 


252  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

may  be  one  reason  why  his  "  course  of  love  "  never  ran 
smoothly.  "  He  always  matched  improperly,  and  he 
was  cursed  in  all  his  matches."  His  conduct  now,  how- 
ever, is  the  more  mysterious,  because  he  is  no  longer  the 
young,  lover,  "sighing  like  a  furnace;"  but  of  mature 
years  and  experience — the  same  man  who  went  down 
to  Timnath  some  twenty  years  ago,  as  strong  in  muscle, 
but  weaker  in  character.  And  though  his  enemies 
could  not  find  out  what  constituted  his  great  strength, 
they  were  not  slow  in  discovering  where  his  weakness 
lay ;  and  as  ordinary  measures  had  not  enabled  them  to 
get  the  secret  of  his  strength,  they  resolved  to  overreach 
him  through  his  fondness  for  a  woman  of  their  own 
nation. 

Of  Delilah's  father  and  mother,  education  and  pre- 
vious character,  we  know  nothing.  And  I  believe  she 
is  never  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures  after  her  connec- 
tion with  Samson.  We  do  not  know  what  became  of 
her.  The  name  Delilah  is  believed  to  signify  humilia- 
tion, bringing  down  to  shame,  that  which  humbles  and 
debases.  We  are  not  able,  however,  to  explain  how  her 
parents  happened  to  give  her  at  birth  a  name  so  truly 
significant  and  prophetic  of  the  events  of  her  life,  that 
give  her  a  place  in  the  world's  history.  Were  they 
under  a  prophetic  impulse  in  giving  a  name  to  their 
child  ?  We  are  only  sure  of  the  historic  fact,  The 
names  of  the  Bible  are  all,  probably,  descriptive  or  sig- 
nificant, as  oriental  names  are  still,  and  as  all  names  were 
originally.  The  pictures  of  Delilah  usually  represent 
her  with  auburn  hair,  fair  complexion,  medium  stature 
a  bewitching  eye  and  a  voluptuous  expression.  Artists 
have  no  authority  for  such  a  picture,  however,  beyond 


WAS    DELILAH    HIS    WIFE.  253 

their  imagination  and  the  presumption  of  the  record 
before  us.  We  think  our  engravings  of  Delilah  with 
Samson  asleep  in  her  lap,  and  as  she  appears  when  he 
is  taken  by  the  Philistines,  both  happily  expressive  of 
her  character  and  surrounding  circumstances.  I  have 
always  fancied  a  striking  resemblance  between  her  and 
Queen  Dido.  Some  have  doubted  whether  Delilah 
was  of  Philistine  parentage.  Hebrew  tradition  and 
Josephus,  however,  assert  that  she  was,  and  this  I  think 
the  text  implies.  Some  doubt,  also,  whether  she  was  ever 
Samson's  wife,  or  only  his  concubine.  Milton  considers 
her  his  second  married  wife,  which  seems  to  me  most 
likely.  It  is  true,  however,  she  is  no  where  called  his 
wife ;  and  if  she  were  his  wife,  it  may  be  pertinently 
asked,  why  did  he  not  take  her  home  to  his  own  house  ? 
Though  his  married  wife,  as  I  think,  she  was  chosen 
from  wrong  motives  or  upon  corrupt  principles.  His 
choice  was  made  in  violent  passion,  rather  than  from 
prudence  or  out  of  regard  to  the  religion  of  his  fathers. 
As  a  Philistine,  she  belonged  to  a  wicked  and  idolatrous 
people. 

The  lords  of  the  Philistines  were  the  chiefs  of  their 
five  principalities :  Gaza,  Gath,  Askelon,  Ashdod  and 
Ekron.  And  though  these  principalities  were  consid- 
ered in  most  respects  sovereign  and  independent,  yet  in 
their  wars  against  the  Israelites  they  were  generally, 
perhaps  always,  united.  At  this  time  they  were  con- 
federate against  the  Hebrew  champion,  and  diligently 
watching  for  an  opportunity  to  get  an  advantage  over 
him.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  they  heard  that  Samson 
had  formed  an  alliance  with  Delilah,  they  offered  her  a 
large  bribe  if  she  would  get  from  him  the  secret  of  his 


254  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

strength.  Each  chief  promised  to  give  her  eleven  hun- 
dred pieces  of  silver,  if  she  succeeded.  Five  thousand, 
five  hundred  pieces  of  silver  was  a  considerable  sum  of 
money  in  those  days.  If  these  pieces,  as  it  is  probable, 
were  shekels  of  silver,  the  sum  was  about  three  thousand 
dollars. 

The  heathen  are  all  superstitious.  Even  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  with  all  their  enlightenment  in  philosophy 
and  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  were  the  slaves  of  terrible 
superstitions.  The  people  of  the  East  generally  are 
given  to  charms,  incantations,  signs  and  omens.  As 
Samson  did  not  owe  his  extraordinary  strength  to  the 
size  of  his  body,  the  Philistine  lords  seem  to  have 
conjectured  that  it  must  lie  in  some  amulet  or  charm, 
and  that  the  supernatural  power  he  wielded  depended 
on  his  continued  possession  of  some  magical  ring  or 
word  ;  and  that  if  they  could  in  any  way  get  this  secret 
from  him,  then  they  could  easily  make  him  their  pris- 
oner and  put  him  to  death. 

"  And  Delilah  said  unto  Samson,  Tell  me,  I  pray 
thee,  wherein  thy  great  strength  lieth,  and  wherewith 
thou  mightest  be  bound  to  afflict  thee  ?" 

"  And  Samson  said  unto  her,  If  they  bind  me  with 
seven  green  withes,  that  were  never  dried,  then  shall  I 
be  weak,  and  be  as  another  man."  Verses  six  and  seven 
and  to  the  twentieth,  inclusive. 

I  have  nothing  to  say  in  defence  of  Samson's  tying. 
It  seems  to  me,  after  all  that  commentators  have  said  in 
explaining  the  text  so  as  to  excuse  at  least  in  part  his 
trifling  with  Delilah,  that  she  was  correct  in  saying  to 
him  that  he  told  her  lies.  Yes,  lies  is  the  word,  neither 
white  nor  little,  nor  over  the  shoulder ;  but  honest  Eng- 


HOW   FAR    DELILAH    WAS    CORRUPTED.          255 

lish  lies.  Nor  need  I  explain  how  his  soul  ivas  vexed 
unto  death,  for  he  is  neither  the  first  nor  the  last  man 
whose  soul  has  been  vexed  to  death  by  an  ungodly 
woman.  Let  us  then  at  once  attend  to  the  enticement, 
the  repeated  temptation,  the  struggling  of  the  strong  man 
in  the  toils  of  an  artful  woman,  and  the  success  of  the 
beguilement. 

I.  The  Philistine  lords  did  not  profess  to  wish  to  kill 
Samson,  but  only  to  bind  him  to  afflict  Mm;  that  is, 
according  to  the  Hebrew,  to  humble  him,  to  bring  him 
low.  "  Entice  him,"  said  they,  "  and  see  wherein  his 
great  strength  lieth."  Literally:  For  what  cause  his 
strength  is  so  great.  Much  as  Delilah  may  have  been 
to  blame,  I  should  think  she  did  not  intend  to  do  all  she 
did.  She  did  not  expect  the  consequences  to  be  what 
they  really  were.  She  did  not  see  the  ultimate  purpose 
of  her  seducers.  Nor  did  she  know  that  Samson  would 
in  fact  be  so  powerless,  and  that  they  would  tear  out  his 
eyes — those  very  eyes  that  gazed  upon  her  in  such  rap- 
turous love — and  load  him  with  chains  and  carry  him 
off  to  grind  in  the  mills  of  Gaza.  No;  surely,  if  the 
proposition  had  been  made  directly  in  all  its  naked  cru- 
elty, to  kill  him,  or  to  maim  him  for  life,  as  he  lay  in  her 
lap,  the  offer  of  the  eleven  hundred  pieces  of  silver  would 
have  been  spurned.  And  is  it  not  possible  that  she  was 
jealous,  or  feared  that  he  would  prove  fickle  and  incon- 
stant, as  his  sex  too  often  do,  and  leave  her;  and 
that  she  designed  that  her  countrymen  should  succeed 
against  him,  only  so  far  as  to  impose  some  temporary 
restraint,  and  that  thus  she  should  be  able  to  hold 
him  securely  the  longer  with  her  soft  toils  ?  It  were 
difficult  to  prove  that  she  was  not  moved  by  some  such 


256  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

considerations  ;  and  yet  it  requires  a  great  deal  of  cour- 
age to  affirm  that  she  really  loved  Samson,  and  did  not 
design  to  ruin  him,  but  only  the  better  to  keep  him  near 
her.  It  is  thus,  however,  the  great  poet  represents  her 
r>-  r,leading  her  cause  before  her  eyeless  husband  in  the 
i  .-<-a.  On  the  great  principle  that  we  must  give  to 
*-\ ;  ry  one  his  due,  it  is  necessary  to  allow  Mrs.  Delilah 
Samson  the  benefit  of  these  suggestions.  The  cause  of 
virtue  and  truth  is  never  promoted  by  making  Satan 
blacker  than  he  really  is.  In  allowing  her  to  plead  as 
tu'  great  poet  does,  her  love  of  country  and  devotion  to 
h'-'-  heathen  god,  and  that  she  did  not  know  the  ruinous 
consequences  to  which  her  conduct  would  lead,  we  must 
not  be  understood  as  holding  her  blameless.  The  high- 
est authority  has  given  the  most  truthful  picture  of  the 
strange  woman,  whose  ways  are  the  chambers  of  death, 
and  the  going  down  to  hell.  The  young  have  special 
need  to  be  put  on  their  guard  against  a  class  of  writers 
who  for  the  purpose  of  pulling  down  the  pillars  of  society, 
and  destroying  the  sanctity  and  blessedness  of  the  mar- 
riage relation  and  of  "  the  bed  undefiled,"  as  established 
by  law  and  under  the  sanction  of  our  holy  religion,  are 
continually  praising  the  faithfulness  and  devotion  of  free- 
love  women,  who  are  made  saints  or  angels  to  the  dis- 
paragement of  lawful  married  wives.  If  there  is  one 
such,  there  are  ten  thousand  as  heartless,  as  mercenary, 
and  as  treacherous  as  Delilah,  though  they  may  no 
be  heathen  as  she  was.  It  was  no  doubt  in  reference  to 
just  this  class  of  women,  who  are  so  much  praised  by 
some  of  our  poets  and  popular  essayists  and  eulogists  of 
theatres,  that  the  wise  man  said,  recording  his  own  bitter 
experience  :  "  One  man  among  a  thousand  have  I  found 


UNIVERSITY 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH    WITHES    AND    ROPES.       257 

(upright  and  to  be  trusted)  but  a  woman  among  all  these 
have  I  not  found."  Ecc.  vii :  28.  If  Solomon  had  kept 
better  company,  his  experience  would  have  enabled  him 
to  make  a  better  record  of  womankind. 

The  best  excuse  I  can  make  for  Delilah  is,  that  out 
of  curiosity — the  very  same  thing  that  is  thought  to 
have  wrought  such  mischief  with  our  first  mother — she 
desired  to  experiment  with  her  husband,  and  find  out  the 
secret  of  his  extraordinary  strength,  but  expecting  every 
time  that  he  would  be  able  to  extricate  himself  from  all 
difficulty — not  believing  it  possible  that  his  enemies 
could  finally  and  fatally  prevail  against  him. 

2.  "  If  they  bind  me"  said  Samson,  "  with  seven  green 
withes  that  were  newly  dried.  Withes,  according  to  the 
Hebrew  here,  may  have  been  any  kind  of  tough,  pliable 
wood,  twisted  into  ropes.  The  Septuagint  says  they 
were  cords  made  of  rawhide,  and  so  the  Vulgate,  nervi- 
ceisfunibus.  It  is  probable  the  first  cords  or  ropes  used 
were  thongs  cut  from  rawhide,  twisted  and  dried.  Tugs 
are  extensively  used,  even  in  our  day,  instead  of  iron 
chains,  for  drawing  the  plow,  cart,  harrow,  and  wagon 
in  Africa,  and  many  other  parts  of  the  world.  I  have 
seen  ropes  made  of  the  fibres  of  the  bogwood,  in  Ireland, 
and  of  young  hickories,  hazels,  or  oziers,  in  our  South- 
ern and  Western  States.  In  India  wild  buffaloes  and 
elephants  when  first  caught  are  bound  with  green  withes. 
When  green  they  are  exceedingly  strong,  but  when  dried 
they  are  brittle  and  good  for  nothing.  New  ropes,  withes, 
and  the  sacred  number,  seven,  seem  all  to  have  been 
suggested  by  his  knowledge  of  their  superstition,  ideas 
of  a  charm,  or  spell,  for  such  things  were  used  in 
heathen  incantations.  The  monuments  show  that  flax 


258  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

was  used  long  before  this  time  in  Egypt,  and  ropes  of 
hemp  may  also  have  been  in  use ;  but  those  made  of 
fibres  of  trees,  or  of  switches,  were  not  and  are  not  still 
superseded. 

3.  Now  there  were  men  lying  in  wait,  abiding  with  her 
in  the  chamber,  or  rather  hidden  in  the  inner  apartment, 
not  present  in  the  same  room,  who  rushed  out  upon  him, 
but  Samson  broke  the  withes  as  a  thread  of  tow  is  broken 
ivhen  it  toucheth  the  fire.    So  his  strength  was  not  known. 
The  experiment  with  the  new  ropes  resulted  as  the  one 
with  the  new  withes  had  done.    But  still  Delilah  persists, 
and  he  tells  her  to  weave  the  seven  locks  of  his  head 
with  the  web.     Biblical  scholars  tell  us  this  thirteenth 
verse  ends  abruptly,  that  it  should  be  as  the  Septuagint 
has  it,  closing  with  directions  how  to  fasten  his  hair,  just 
as  she  accordingly  does,  as  we  are  told  in  the  next  verse. 

This  is  certainly  the  sense.  The  seven  locks  probably 
means  the  seven  divisions  into  which  his  hair  was  platted. 
As  a  Nazarite  he  was  obliged  to  wear  his  hair  long,  and 
as  a  matter  of  comfort,  it  was  necessary  to  weave  it  into 
locks,  or  distinct  folds,  and  the  number  seven  being 
sacred  it  was  adopted.  It  was  equivalent  to  all  his  hair. 
And  she  fastened  it,  that  is,  his  hair  in  its  seven  fold 
form,  to  the  loom,  winding  it  about  the  yard  beam,  as  is 
plain  from  the  verses  following. 

4.  This  third  experiment  was  a  much  more  danger- 
ous one  than  the  preceding ;  it  approached  so  near  to 
his  awful  secret  that  we  begin  to  tremble  for  him.     He 
is  now  beginning  to  handle  sharp   edged  tools.     The 
circle  is  growing  smaller  and  smaller  with  fearful  rapid- 
ity.    He  tells  his  enchantress  if  his  long  locks  wore 
woven  around  the  beam  of  the  loom,  he  would  be  as 


HIS    LOCKS    IN    THE    LOOM. 


259 


another  man.  And  she,  to  make  the  experiment  more 
sure,  fastened  the  web  to  the  floor  or  wall  with  a  pin. 
But  as  he  was  still  possessed  of  the  mark  of  his  cove- 
nant with  Jehovah,  so  the  Philistines  could  not  prevail 
against  him.  He  dragged  the  whole  loom,  web,  pin, 
beam  and  all  by  his  hair. 

The  monuments  of  Egypt  prove  that  the  loom  was 
known  before  this  period.  Our  engraving  of  an  upright 
loom,  copied  from  the  monuments  of  Egypt,  shows 

how  Delilah  could 
weave  his  locks  to 
the  loom,  and  fast- 
en them  down  to 
the  floor.  The 
looms  of  the  East 
are  still  much  more 
simple  and  primi- 
tive than  ours. 

But  does  Sam- 
son now  arouse 
himself,  and  say,  I 
have  trifled  long  enough  ?  Away  fair  tempter,  I  cannot 
stay  any  longer  on  this  dangerous  ground ;  I  cannot  sin 
against  God,  and  do  so  wicked  a  thing  as  to  betray  my 
secret.  Alas  !  the  woman's  importunities  prevail.  "  He 
told  her  all  that  was  in  his  heart."  So  great  was  his 
infatuation  that,  like  the  moth,  he  approached  nearer 
and  nearer  to  the  flame,  until  he  was  consumed  by  it. 
He  told  her  of  his  wondrous  birth  and  eventful  life,  and 
divine  deliverances ;  that  he  was  a  Nazarite,  and  that 
the  preservation  of  his  long  hair  was  a  test  of  his  obe- 
dience, and  a  token  of  the  divine  presence  to  aid  hiin 


urnicnx  LOOM. 


260  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

whenever  opportunity  presented  for  executing  justice 
upon  her  countrymen ;  and  that  if  his  hair  were  shaven 
he  would  be  as  another  man,  because  by  such  a  sin  he 
would  deprive  himself  of  the  divine  power  that  was 
vouchsafed  to  him  as  long  as  he  was  faithful  to  his  vows. 
She  saw,  by  his  earnest  tone,  and  subdued  and  sincere 
manner,  that  he  was  no  longer  amusing  her,  but  had 
actually  told  her  the  secret  of  his  strength.  But  instead 
of  being  favorably  impressed  by  this  mark  of  his  confi- 
dence, or  moved  from  her  satanic  purpose  of  pressing 
her  experiments  by  this  proof  of  his  honesty,  and  of  his 
ardent  love  for  her,  she  immediately  took  measures  to 
betray  him.  Accordingly  she  makes  such  positive  assur- 
ances to  the  Philistine  lords  that  they  are  not  to  be 
trifled  with  this  time,  that  they  hurry  up  to  Sorek  with 
the  money  in  hand.  And  she  tells  them  that  he  has 
told  me  at  last  the  secret  of  his  heart,  and  they  counted 
out  the  money.  And  sure  enough,  this  time  her  plan 
succeeds,  as  I  would  fain  hope,  even  beyond  her  own 
wishes. 

5.  And  she  made  him  sleep  upon  her  knees.  At  noon, 
in  the  East,  it  is  very  hot,  and  the  inhabitants  are  in  the 
habit  of  taking  a  siesta.  This  short  repose  is  usually 
taken  by  a  son  in  the  lap  of  his  mother,  or  by  a  husband 
in  the  lap  of  his  wife.  The  climate  and  fixtures  of  their 
domestic  establishments  are  suited  for  such  a  luxury. 
The  woman  sits  on  a  divan,  or  mat,  or  carpet,  cross- 
legged,  and  the  man  lays  himself  down  with  his  head  in 
her  lap,  "  and  she  gently  taps,  strokes,  sings  and  soothes 
him  to  sleep."  This  is  well  represented  by  our  artist  in 
the  engraving. 

And  she  called  for  a  man,  and  caused  him  to  shave  oft 


SAMSON    SHAVEN    AND    AFFLICTED.  261 

the  seven  locks  of  his  head.  Most,  if  not  all,  the  pictures 
I  have  ever  seen  of  Samson  in  Delilah's  lap,  represent 
her  with  a  pair  of  scissors,  cutting  off  his  hair  with  her 
own  hands.  This  is  altogether  wrong.  It  may  well  be 
doubted  whether  scissors  were  then  in  use.  It  is,  how- 
ever, well  known  that  barbers  by  profession  are  nearly 
as  old  as  the  creation.  They  are  found  operating  on  the 
oldest  monuments  of  the  Nile ;  and  the  monuments  of 
the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  as  well  as  of  Egypt,  prove 
that  wig  wearing  was  very  common  in  a  very  remote 
antiquity.  The  Arabian  Nights  and  Oriental  tales  speak 
of  barbers  as  belonging  to  an  ancient  and  important 
profession.  The  embalming  surgeon  of  Egypt  seems 
to  have  been  also  a  common  barber.  Our  engraving  of 

barbers  operating  is  copied  from 
the  monuments  of  Egypt. 

While  Samson  sleeps,  the  bar- 
ber  takes   off  his   sacred  locks. 
So  skillful  were  the  barbers  of 
the  East,  that  they  are  said   to 
__^^___  have  been  able  to  take  off  a  man's 
BARBERS  OPPERATING.       beard  or  hair  without  awakening 
him — rather  to  have  lulled  him  to  sweeter  sleep  by 
the  operation. 

6.  I  do  not  understand  Samson  to  say,  in  the  seven- 
teenth verse,  that  his  great  strength  existed  essentially  in 
his  hair.  All  Nazarites  had  long  hair,  but  they  did  not 
all  possess  superhuman  strength,  nor  strength  in  propor- 
tion as  their  hair  was  long.  Samson  is  not,  therefore,  to 
be  understood  as  saying  that  his  hair  was  essentially  his 
strength,  or  that  his  strength  was  natural,  but  that  his 
hair  was  the  mark  of  his  Nazarite  relation  to  God,  whose 


: 


262  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

Spirit  imparted  to  him  his  miraculous  strength.  He 
meant  that  his  long  hair  was  a  proof  of  his  obedience, 
and  of  his  covenant  with  God,  from  whom  he  derived 
and  would  always  derive  strength  so  long  as  he  was 
obedient  to  him.  And  consequently,  if  he  were  disobe- 
dient, and  his  hair  were  shaven,  then  the  Nazarite  vow 
that  consecrated  him  to  God  would  be  broken,  and  God 
would  abandon  him,  and  he  would  become  weak  as 
another  man.  The  secret  was  now  out,  and  the  plot  was 
speedily  executed.  And  she  began  to  afflict  him,  and  his 
strength  went  from  him.  This  she  did  herself,  before 
she  called  for  the  Philistines,  to  see  whether  he  were 
really  weak  now  as  another  man.  And  though  she  is 
now  convinced  that  he  has  lost  his  strength,  she  still 
probably  thought  it  was  only  for  a  little  time,  and  that 
in  actual  extremity  he  would  recover  it  again. 

How  deep  must  have  been  Samson's  mortification ! 
How  terrible  his  agony  and  disappointment,  to  find  that 
he  had  broken  his  vows,  and  was  indeed  forsaken  of 
God !  At  first  he  was  not  conscious  of  his  awful  fall. 
"  He  awoke  out  of  his  sleep,  and  said  I  will  go  out  as  at 
other  times  before,  and  shake  myself.  And  he  wist  not 
that  the  LORD  was  departed  from  him.  But  the  Philis- 
tines took  him  and  put  out  his  eyes,  and  brought  him 
down  to  Gaza,  and  bound  him  with  fetters  of  brass  ;  and 
he  did  grind  in  the  prison  house."  See  engraving  of  the 
Philistines  taking  Samson.  His  sleeping  was  accursed, 
and  more  accursed  his  waking.  "  He  that  sleeps  in  sin 
must  look  to  wake  in  loss  and  weakness." — IlalL  There 
may  be  those  who  think  that  Samson  could  not  have 
been  so  easily  overcome.  It  is  wonderful  that  alter  he 
had  been  three  times  tried,  and  had  found  each  time  that 


HOW    SAMSON    WAS    TAKEN.  263 

the  Philistines  were  lying  in  wait,  within  call,  to  come 
upon  him,  that  he  allowed  Delilah  to  dally  with  him  a 
fourth  time,  and  then  told  her  the  real  secret  of  all  his 
strength.  His  infatuation  was  most  extraordinary ;  but 
inordinate  and  unlawful  attachments  of  this  kind  have 
generally  been  found  to  be  at  the  bottom  of  the  most 
horrid  and  revolting  deeds  in  the  chronicles  of  strong 
men.  Remember  David,  and  beware  of  the  weakness 
of  human  nature. 

But  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  we  have  here  a  full 
account  of  all  the  interviews  or  conversations  that  past 
between  Samson  and  Delilah.    He  was  a  judge  in  Israel, 
and  however  Samsonian  his  passions  may  have  been,  it 
is  not  at  all  likely  that  he  surrendered  without  a  struggle. 
We  know  that  she  had  to  apply  all  her  arts  repeatedly. 
She  watched  for  moments  most  favorable  to  her  designs. 
She  found  out  by  what  arts  of  soft  dalliance  she  could 
obtain  the  greatest  influence  over  him.     She  resorted  to 
every  means  of  lulling  his  suspicions.     He  seems  not 
to  have  known  of  the  bribe,  nor  at  first  of  her  inter- 
course with  his  national  enemies.     And  even  after  he 
found  that  she  had  the  Philistines  lying  in  wait  to  rush 
upon  him,  as  soon  as   she  fancied  he  had  told  her  his 
secret,  he  was  easily  persuaded  that  it  was  all  in  jest. 
Perhaps  she  nattered  him,  and  told  him  she  loved  to  see 
him  displaying  his  great  strength,  and  making  sport  of 
the  Philistines.     Nor  did  he  fall  in  a  moment,  nor  in  an 
hour.     Doubtless  several   clays,   it   may   be  weeks  or 
months,  intervened ;  time  enough  for  his  resentment  to 
cool,  or  for  removing  his  suspicions,  and  for  her  to  ply 
all  her  arts  of  persuasion  and  blandishment.     Once  and 
again  he  visits  Sorek,  and  every  time  she  gains  some 


264  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

new  point  of  influence  over  him.  She  conducts  the 
siege  with  admirable  skill.  Every  time  she  advances 
her  rifle  pits,  and  brings  her  sharp  shooters  nearer,  until 
at  last  the  strong  citadel  is  completely  invested.  Simple 
minded  and  confiding  as  he  was  strong,  he  is  at  last  sur- 
prised and  taken.  We  have  no  record  of  his  internal 
conflict,  but  the  battle  in  his  great  soul  must  have  been 
a  terrific  struggle  before  he  yielded.  There  seems  to 
have  been  less  prudence,  and  not  so  much  firmness  as 
he  displayed  with  his  first  wife.  He  gave  his  Timnite 
bride  at  first  a  flat  refusal  when  she  attempted  to  get  his 
secret.  But  he  had  not  courage  to  give  a  direct  and 
emphatic  no  to  Delilah  at  all.  He  tried  to  answer  her 
by  telling  her  to  bind  him  with  green  withes  and  new 
ropes.  And  when  the  faithless  wife  thought  she  had 
succeeded,  and  said,  "  the  Philistines  be  upon  thee  Sam- 
son," to  her  astonishment  he  was  as  strong  as  ever.  And 
again  she  plied  her  arts,  and  succeeded  in  lulling  his 
suspicions,  until  he  told  her  all  his  heart,  and  said  /  have 
been  a  Nazarite  unto  God  from  my  mother's  ivomb. 

How  are  the  mighty  fallen !  What  a  confession  to 
be  made  in  the  lap  of  Delilah !  What  a  sad  commen- 
tary upon  his  education  and  youthful  hopes  !  Why  did 
not  the  very  utterance  of  such  words  arouse  him  to  a 
sense  of  his  shame  !  Why  did  he  not  flee  as  for  his  life  ! 
Strange  that  he  was  so  infatuated  that  he  did  not  even 
now,  at  this  late  hour,  break  away  at  all  hazards  from 
the  enchantress.  But  it  is  just  so  now.  He  that  departs 
from  God  hardens  his  heart  and  sears  his  conscience, 
and  soon  falls  into  the  fatal  habit  of  disregarding  the 
warnings  of  his  conscience  and  of  God's  word.  To  dally 
with  Delilah  is  fatal.  The  only  safety  is  flight. 


drat  front  %  Irison  Ulill  of 


CHAPTER  XV. 


A  GRIST  FROM  THE  PRISON-MILL  OF  GAZA, 

"  In  that  tale  I  find 

The  furrows  of  long  thought,  and  dricd-up  tears, 
Which  ebbing,  leave  a  sterile  track  behind, 
CTer  which  all  heavily  the  journeying  years 
Plod  the  last  sands  of  life— where  not  a  flower  appears."' 

CJiilde  Harold. 

WHEN  Josephus  sajs  Samson  was  a  prophet,  he 
means  that  he  was  raised  up  by  a  particular  providence, 
and  set  apart  to  God*s  service  as  a  Nazarite,  and  had 
an  extraordinary  commission  from  God  for  avenging  his 
people  :  and  not  that  he  had  any  prophetic  revelations. 
Such  revelations  were  not  made  by  him  ;  nevertheless 
he  was  a  great  teacher.  In  him  we  see  the  workings  of 
human  nature,  and  the  deep  stragglings  of  higher  prin- 
ciples, both  in  prosperity  and  adversity.  But  he  has 
fallen — -sadly  fallen  through  the  fascinations  of  an  un- 
godly, unprincipled  woman.  The  tempest  that  had  so 
often  before  nearly  made  shipwreck  of  our  giant  judge, 
has  at  last  stranded  him  on  the  beach.  And  scarcely 
was  Christendom  more  convulsed  at  the  fall  of  Sebas- 
topol,  than  was  all  Philistia  at  the  capture  of  Samson, 

"  The  Philistines  took  him,  and  put  out  his  eyes,  and 


268  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

brought  him  down  to  Gaza,  and  bound  him  with  fetters 
of  brass  ;  and  he  did  grind  in  the  prison-house." 

Delilah's  fourth  experiment  succeeded,  perhaps,  even 
beyond  her  expectations  ;  and  when  the  Lord  departed 
from  Samson,  instead  of  being  able  to  carry  away  the 
doors  of  Gaza  on  his  .shoulders,  he  is  now  led  thither  a 
helpless  captive  —  blind  and  in  chains.  "How  sad  the 
change  !  but  more  humiliating  far  the  cause  of  this 
change,  than  the  ignominy  of  his  external  sufferings. 
Now  the  very  arms  that  once  wielded  the  heavy  new 
jaw-bone  with  such  terrible  effect,  and  rent  asunder 
the  new  cords  and  withes  as  burnt  tow,  are  bound  hard 
and  fast  in  fetters  of  brass.  An  insulting  guard  of  un- 
circumcised  Dagon  worshippers  taunt  and  goad  him 
along  the  weary  road  down  to  Gaza :  Aha  !  this  is  the 
way  you  carry  off  our  doors  from  the  city  gate,  is  it  ? 
Don't  you  wish  you  could  find  another  jaw-bone  !  Cow- 
ardly wretches  ;  but  yesterday  ten  thousand  of  you  could 
not  stand  before  him,  nor  could  you  now,  had  he  only 
been  faithful  to  his  God  !  But  such  is  always  the  way 
of  transgression  —  such  are  always  the  consequences  of 
departing  from  the  living  God.  Those  sacred  locks  that 
had  been  tenderly  cherished  by  his  mother,  and  hitherto 
so  much  cared  for  by  himself,  are  left  in  Sorek,  the 
spoils  and  the  sport  of  a  faithless  woman  and  her 
accomplices  in  crime.  His  gait  and  bearing  are  not 
now  as  of  yore.  That  head,  so  long  adorned  with  glossy 
locks,  sealing  his  birth-consecration  to  Jehovah,  is  now 
bald,  and  exposed  to  a  Syrian  sun.  His  steps,  once  so 
steady  and  so  firm,  are  now  feeble  and  tripping.  The 
eyes,  that  once  gazed  upon  the  heavens  in  rapt  devo- 
tion, and  were  wont  to  speak  flames  of  love,  or  shoot 


PUTTING    OUT    HIS    EYES.  269 

forth  the  fire  of  anger,  are  now  rayless,  never  again  to 
kindle  with  the  light  of  the  sun.  Newly  blind,  he  hob- 
bles along,  not  having  yet  learned  how  to  walk  without 
his  eyes.  How  different  his  return  from  his  defiant 
departure  from  the  same  city  with  its  doors  upon  his 
shoulders  ! 

And  the  Philistines  put  out  his  eyes.  "We  are  told 
that  in  Persia,  it  is  the  practice  of  the  king  to  punish 
a  rebellious  city  by  exacting  so  many  pounds  of  eyes, 
and  that  in  fulfilling  this  order,  his  executioners  go  and 
"  scoop  out  from  every  one  they  meet,  till  they  have  the 
weight  required."  Learned  authors  agree  in  saying 
that  the  common  way  of  putting  out  the  eyes  among 
the  Greeks  arid  Asiatics,  was,  "  by  drawing  or  holding 
a  red-hot  iron  before  them."  This  awful  custom  is  still 
known  in  Asia  and  Africa.  Sometimes,  but  not  usually, 
the  eyes  were  cut  out,  and  sometimes  dug  out  with  a 
dagger  and  carried  to  the  king  in  a  basin,  after  the  man 
ner  of  John  the  Baptist's  head  to  Herodias'  daughter. 
The  evidence  is  full  that  such  acts  of  cruelty  were  com- 
mon in  ancient  times.  And  sometimes,  history  informs  us, 
the  executioners  ordered  to  destroy  the  eyes  of  prisoners 
were  so  careless  that  the  prisoners  were  so  butchered  as 
to  lose  their  lives  under  the  operation.  M.  Bonomi,  in 
his  "Nineveh  and  its  Palaces,"  (p.  169,)  furnishes  us 
with  a  drawing  from  Khorsabad,  that  illustrates  this 
savage  barbarity.  Our  engraving  is  copied  from  the 
sculpture  on  the  chamber  of  the  palace  of  the  king. 
The  central  figure  is  the  king  himself,  and  before  him 
are  three  prisoners,  the  foremost  one  on  his  knees  in  a 
most  beseeching  attitude,  and  the  other  two  standing 
behind  in  humble  posture,  begging  for  mercy.  The 


270 


THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 


PUTTING   OVT  THE  EVES. 


king  is  thrusting  the 
point  of  his  spear  into 
one  of  the  eyes  of  the 
suppliant  before  him, 
while  with  his  left  hand 
/  he  holds  the  ends  of 
^-  \r  ;  cords  fastened  to  the 
upperlips  of  the  other 
captives,  who  are  man- 
acled and  fettered,  and 
standing  behind  the  one 
whose  eyes  are  about  to 
be  put  out.  The  king  is  attended  also  by  his  cup- 
bearer and  officers  of  state,  bearing  sceptres ;  by  a 
eunuch  and  the  chief  governor,  or  Rob  Signeen.  AY  ho 
knows  but  that  this  is  the  history  of  ki-ng  Zedekiah  from 
II.  Kings  illustrated  ?  At  least,  in  the  picture  we 
easily  recognize  his  fate,  and  the  putting  out  of  Samson's 
eyes. 

And  bound  Mm  with  fetters  of  brass.  The  Philis- 
tines were  so  terribly  afraid  of  Samson,  that  they  not 
only  put  out  his  eyes,  but  bound  him.  Though  his  arms 
were  now  as  feeble  as  any  other  man's,  yet  his  bodily 
presence  was  to  them  as  king  Edward's  skin  and  armor 
were  to  the  border  clans.  They  were  determined  that 
if  by  any  means  his  strength  should  return  to  ^  him,  so 
that  he  should  break  the  fetters  with  which  he  was 
bound,  yet  he  should  not  have  eyes  to  see  how  to  use  it. 
The  brass  of  the  text  is  copper,  for  as  yet  the  factitious 
metal  known  to  us  as  brass  was  not  in  use.  AVe  have 
ample  proof,  however,  of  the  use  of  copper  in  remote 
ages  for  many  purposes  to  which  iron  is  now  applied. 


COPPER    CHAINS    AND    UTENSILS.  271 

Ancient  monuments  show  conclusively  that  chains,  fet- 
ters, instruments  for  labor  and  for  cooking,  knives,  axes, 
and  vases,  dishes  and  dice-boxes,  hammers,  chisels,  adzes 
and  hatchets,  daggers,  rings,  prisoners'  fetters  and  strong 
chains  were  all  used  by  the  ancients.  Such  articles  and 
a  bowl  of  bitumen  overlaid  with  copper  and  a  piece  of 
lead,  have  been  brought  from  the  ruins  of  the  Tigris 
and  Euphrates,  and  are  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
Those  brought  from  Tel  Sifx  in  ancient  Babylon  by  Mr. 
Loftus,*  seem  to  have  been  the  stock  in  trade  of  a  cop- 
persmith, whose  forge  was  near  by.  Copper  was  used 
in  ancient  Egypt,  where  the  art  of  hardening  the  points 
of  their  copper  instruments  seems  to  have  been  more 
perfectly  known  than  it  is  in  the  present  day.  The 
obelisks  of  the  Nile  are  covered  with  hieroglyphics,  and 
yet  they  are  so  hard,  that  it  is  with  great  difficulty  any 
inscriptions  can  be  cut  on  them  with  our  tools.  The 
cutting  of  the  French  inscriptions  on  the  obelisk  set  up  by 
Louis  Philippe  in  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  is  in  proof 
of  this.  We  find  the  Israelites  using  copper  abundantly 
in  building  the  tabernacle.  Though  iron  was  not  wholly 
unknown  to  the  ancients,  it  was  not  much  used.  It  will 
be  readily  remembered,  however,  that  the  Bible  speaks 
in  several  places  of  chains  and  fetter  of  brass  (copper.) 
See,  particularly,  Psalms  xlix  :  8  ;  2  Kings  xxv  :  7, 
and  the  history  of  Manasseh  and  Hezekiah.  Mr. 
Layard  thinks  the  fetters  of  the  prisoners  at  Nineveh 
were  of  iron,  but  it  is  generally  conceded  that  the  mon- 
uments prove  that  those  of  Egyptian  prisoners  were  of 


*  Loftus'  Travels  and  Researches  in  Babylonia  and  Susiana,  p.  269.    See  also 
Layard's  Nineveh— passim. 


272  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

copper.  Mr.  Loftus  thinks  that  the  Chaldeans  were  a 
colony  from  Egypt.  The  best  authorities,  as  we  have 
seen,  agree  that  the  Philistines  were  of  Egyptian  origin. 
It  were  a  deeply  interesting  subject,  but  one  that  does 
not  come  within  my  present  purpose,  to  trace  out  from 
ancient  history  and  the  readings  of  recent  discoveries, 
the  striking  similarities  that  exist  between  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  Assyrians  and  Philistines.  Modern  re- 
searches and  discoveries  all  tend  to  corroborate  the  unity 
of  the  human  races,  and  their  dispersion  from  a  com- 
mon cradle,  according  to  the  tenth  and  eleventh  chapters 
of  Genesis. 

I  think  this  is  the  first  time  the  Bible  speaks  of  put- 
ting out  any  one's  eyes.  And  the  first  time  that  we 
have  mention  made  of  a  prison  since  the  record  of  Pha- 
raoh's round  house,  in  the  history  of  Joseph.  The 
sculptured  records  of  the  East  prove,  however,  the  great 
antiquity  of  the  usages  referred  to  in  the  text.  The 
ancients  were  in  the  habit  of  keeping  some  of  their 
prisoners  to  grace  a  great  feast  or  triumphal  procession, 
and  in  the  mean  time  of  heaping  upon  them  every  pos- 
sible insult  and  cruelty  that  life  could  bear.  In  Southey's 
Brazil  we  have  an  instance  which,  perhaps,  illustrates 
more  accurately  the  treatment  bestowed  upon  Samson 
by  the  Philistines  than  any  other  given  by  the  books. 
A  prisoner  was  tried  and  then  commanded  to  jump 
while  his  captors  "  laughed  and  shouted,  saying,  see  how 
our  meat  is  jumping.  He  asked  if  this  was  the  place 
where  he  was  to  die.  No,  his  master  replied  ;  but  these 
things  were  always  done  to  prisoners.  Having  seen 
him  dance,  they  now  ordered  him  to  sing  ;  he  sung  a 
hymn.  They  bade  him  interpret  it,  and  he  said  it  was 


SAMSON  GRINDING  AT  THE  MILT, 


•'Eyoloss  in  <!a/a  at  the  inil'.^illi  -A 
To  tfi-inil  in  brazen  (ettr-is  unclei  task.' 


UNIVERSITY 


CRUELTIES    ON    PRISONERS.  273 

in  praise  of  God.  They  then  reviled  his  God;  and 
their  blasphemies  so  shocked  him  that  he  admired  in  his 
heart  the  wonderful  indulgence  and  long-suffering  of 
God  towards  them." 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Indians  of  America  delight 
in  such  cruelties.  They  inflict  wounds  on  their  prison- 
ers, and  treat  them  in  the  most  cruel  manner,  that  they 
may  see  how  much  courage  they  have,  and  enjoy  their 
writhings  of  pain.  Sometimes  the  prisoners  are  made 
to  run  the  gauntlet,  or  to  dance  and  sing  through  the 
most  exquisite  sufferings  from  wounds  or  from  the 
slowly  consuming  flames,  until  death  releases  them. 
The  history  of  the  "  Oatman  Family,"  recently  pub- 
lished, is  a  thrilling  illustration  of  their  barbarous  treat- 
ment of  prisoners.  Such,  doubtless,  was  the  spirit  and 
manner  of  the  Philistines  with  Samson. 

In  the  mean  time  Samson  is  not  only  bound,  but 
made  to  grind  at  the  mills  as  a  slave,  and  as  a  slave  of 
the  state.  His  condition  was  in  every  respect  a  most 
painfully  aggravated  one — much  more  so  than  if  he 
had  been  reduced  to  servitude  in  a  private  family,  whose 
self-interest,  if  no  higher  motives  were  found,  would 
prompt  them  to  mild  treatment.  Here  is  the  original 
of  imprisonment  at  hard  labor.  I  presume  this  is  the 
first  instance  of  penitentiary  labor  on  record,  and  I 
think  it  is  the  only  instance  in  the  Bible  of  imprison- 
ment and  hard  labor  united.  The  oriental  custom  with 
prisoners  was  either  a  summary  execution,  when  not 
reserved  for  a  triumph,  or  condemnation  to  perpetual 
servitude.  From  Lam.  v  :  11  and  Isa.  xlvii  :  2,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  Chaldeans  made  such  of  their  Hebrew 
captives  as  they  wished  especially  to  degrade  to  grind  in 

L* 


274  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

the  mill.  Herodotus  says  that  the  Scythians  put  out  the 
eyes  of  all  their  prisoners  of  war,  and  made  them  milkers 
of  their  cows.  Probably  they  considered  blind  slaves 
better  for  milking,  and  for  grinding,  somewhat  as  we 
put  a  blind  horse,  or  a  blind-folded  one  to  turn  the 
wheel  in  sawing  wood,  and  for  the  performance  of  like 
rotary  work.  See  Melpomene  cap.  2,  and  Kitto's  Illus- 
trations, p.  417,  etc. 

In  Zanzibar  and  Eastern  Africa,  as  well  as  in  por- 
tions of  Asia  and  on  many  of  the  islands  of  the  sea, 
this  kind  of  primitive  mill  and  the  mortar  are  the  only 
instruments  in  use  for  grinding.  The  Cassada  root, 
ground  or  pounded,  is  the  staple  food  of  the  poorer 
classes.  The  mill  consists  of  two  flat  circular  stones, 
some  two  feet  in  diameter.  "  The  one  is  convex,  hav- 
ing a  hole  through  which  the  grain  passes,  and  is  sup- 
ported upon  the  other,  which  is  concave,  by  a  firm  peg. 
To  the  upper  stone  is  affixed  a  handle,  by  which  it  is 
kept  revolving  by  two  women  sitting  on  opposite  sides 
of  the  mill."  (Osgood's  Notes,  p.  26.) 

So  necessary  was  the  mill  considered  in  a  family,  that 
according  to  the  law  of  Moses,  "  no  man  shall  take  the 
nether  or  the  upper  millstone  to  pledge,  for  he  taketh  a 
man's  life  to  pledge."  That  is,  his  life  and  that  of  his 
family  depended  on  his  having  a  mill  by  which  to  pre- 
pare their  bread.  The  same  law  substantially  prevails 
among  us.  The  constable  cannot  take  by  a  suit  at  law 
the  miner's  tools,  the  farmer's  plough,  nor  the  mechanic's 
saw  and  chisel. 

The  prophet  expressed  the  utter  desolation  of  Baby- 
lon by  saying  :  "  The  sound  of  the  millstone  shall  be 
heard  no  more  at  all."  That  is,  it  shall  become  a  mass 


DIFFERENT  KIND  OF  MILLS.  275 

of  ruins.  The  means  of  subsistence  shall  wholly  cease. 
This  prophecy  has  been  literally  fulfilled.  All  that  is 
now  to  be  seen  in  the  marshes  and  by  "  the  standing 
pools  "  of  Babylon,  are  ruins,  a  solitary  traveller  and  a 
few  flitting,  robbing  Bedouins. 

Mills  are  probably  as  old  as  looms,  and  both  go  back 
to  remotest  times.  Hand-mills  resembling  those  of  the 
most  ancient  monuments  are  still  in  use  in  China,  Africa 
and  the  East  generally.  Our  engraving  is  a  correct 
picture  of  such  mills.  Grain  was  first  prepared  for  bread 
probably  by  boiling  it  and  then  bruising  it  in  a  mortar. 
The  mortar  and  pestle  are  still  in  use  among  the  abo- 
rigines of  this  continent  for  pounding  or  grinding  acorns 
and  grain  into  meal.  And  the  opinion  prevails  among 
not  a  few,  that  meal  obtained  in  this  way  is  sweeter  than 
that  ground  in  our  common  mills.  The  Anglo-Saxons 
of  an  early  period  used  the  same  kind  of  mills  that  are 
found  in  the  East,  and  this  may  be  another  proof  of  what 
Dr.  Pritchard  affirms  in  a  recent  work,  the  Asiatic  ori- 
gin of  the  Celts.  The  first  mills  were  probably  turned 
by  women,  slaves  and  prisoners,  and  in  process  of  time 
by  oxen  and  donkeys,  and  then  by  wind  and  water, 
and  now  by  steam.  Several  allusions  are  made  in  the 
Bible  to  women  grinding  at  the  mill  which  are  explained 
in  the  custom  just  described.  The  Philistines  designed 
by  making  Samson  grind  at  the  mill  to  show  their  vin- 
dictive contempt  for  him.  In  making  him  grind  with 
women  and  slaves  for  their  sport,  they  also  made  him 
wrork  for  us.  For  his  eventful  history  helps  us  to  under- 
stand somewhat  more  fully  the  awful  verities  of  God 
and  the  sublime  teachings  of  a  world  to  come.  Blind 
and  grinding  at  the  mill  —  a  close  prisoner  and  in  terri- 


276  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

ble  suffering,  he  is  entitled  to  our  deepest  sympathies. 
His  condition  is  a  deeply  impressive  illustration  that  the 
Scriptures  of  God  speak  truth  in  warning  us  that  if  we 
sow  to  the  flesh,  we  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption 
—  a  harvest  of  sorrow.  Every  step  of  Samson's  life 
warns  us  of  snares  in  which  our  own  feet  may  be  taken. 
Along  the  line  of  his  dark  passage  from  a  religious  edu- 
cation and  early  piety,  till  we  find  him 

"  Eyeless  in  Gaza,  at  the  mill  Avitli  slaves !" 

a  prisoner  in  the  temple  of  the  heathen  fish-god,  there 
are  many  points  where  we  should  ruminate  ;  and  as  we 
look  through  the  window  upon  his  gloomy  cell,  and  hear 
the  shouts  of  derision  in  the  streets,  our  gratitude  should 
be  excited  for  the  preventing  grace  of  God  that  has 
made  us  to  differ.  In  following  him  there  are  many 
sharp  turns  and  dark  windings  and  slippery  places,  where 
we  have  great  need  of  the  light  of  the  sanctuary  to  keep 
our  own  feet  from  falling. 

I.  In  Samson's  history  we  see  the  wonderful  forbear- 
ance of  God,  notwithstanding  his  misuse  of  great  mercies 
and  of  supernatural  strength.  Though  he  has  often 
fallen,  and  his  life  thus  far  sadly  disappoints  us,  still  he 
was  not  powerless  till  he  gave  up  the  secret  of  his 
strength.  Strange,  that  at  his  time  of  life,  when  the 
fires  of  youth  should  at  least  have  so  far  cooled  down 
as  to  be  under  the  control  of  reason,  he  should  go  from 
Gaza  to  Sorek.  But  he  was  not  an  exception  to  the 
rule,  that  "  because  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not 
executed  speedily,  therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men 
is  fully  set  in  them  to  do  evil."  With  Samson,  as  with 


AGGRAVATION  OF  SAMSON'S  FALL.     277 

men  now,  success  made  him  confident  and  careless  in 
sinning.  Continued  prosperity  in  evil-doing  is  frequently 
assumed  to  be  a  tenure  in  perpetuity  of  the  blessings 
which  are  thus  abused ;  whereas  such  abuses  enhance 
every  moment  the  guilt  that  will  be  all  the  more  terrible 
in  its  results  because  the  judgment  has  been  delayed. 
Samson's  consecration  to  God  before  his  birth; — his 
birth  twice  heralded  by  an  angel; — his  early  and  most 
careful  religious  training;  the  prayers,  sacrifices,  and 
pious  hopes  of  his  godly  parents  ;  and  God's  grace  given 
to  him  in  his  youth,  and  all  the  miraculous  strength  he 
had  received — all  his  experience  of  divine  power  and 
goodness  through  an  extraordinary  life,  only  enhanced 
his  guilt,  and  gave  poignancy  to  his  grief  as  we  see  him 
at  Gaza.  The  light  of  nature  accuses  all  men  of  sin,  so 
that  they  are  without  excuse ;  but  Samson's  sins  were 
the  more  aggravated  because  they  were  committed  after 
repeated  warnings  and  singular  deliverances.  He  sin- 
ned against  the  seventh  commandment,  and  under  the 
historic  light  of  signal  vengeance  upon  the  nations  of  old 
for  their  uncleanness.  He  could  not  have  been  ignorant 
that  it  was  for  licentiousness  the  world  was  destroyed  by 
a  flood,  and  the  Canaanites  accursed,  and  twenty-three 
thousand  of  the  children  of  his  own  people  had  been 
slain,  leaving  their  bones  to  bleach  on  the  sand  on  their 
way  up  from  Egypt.  But  if  we  see  the  wonderful  for- 
bearance of  God  in  Samson's  history— what  shall  we  say 
of  the  divine  patience  in  our  own  ?  Except  the  power 
to  perform  miracles,  we  have  as  much  as  he  had  to 
enhance  our  responsibilities.  The  greater  the  degree  ot 
gospel  light  that  shines  on  us,  the  more  is  our  obligation 
increased,  and  our  guilt  augmented,  if  we  are  disobedient. 


278  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

Instead  of  Nazaritish  vows,  we  are  under  solemn  baptis- 
mal obligations,  which  extend  over  our  whole  term  of 
life.  Samson's  long  hair  was  the  sign  or  test  of  his  obe- 
dience. So  is  our  baptism.  Dear  reader,  are  you  sure 
you  are  not  guilty  of  wiping  away  the  sacred  drops 
by  which  you  were  publicly  dedicated  to  God,  as  Sam- 
son was  shorn  of  his  locks  by  disclosing  the  secret  of  his 
strength  ?  Have  you  not  at  the  age  of  maturity  refused 
to  confirm  the  confession  of  faith  and  vows  made  in  your 
behalf  at  your  baptism  by  your  parents  ?  And  are  none 
of  you  still  wearing  the  outward  badge  of  your  covenant 
with  God,  who  are  living  in  known  sin  ?  Do  you  not 
remember  that  as  baptised  persons  you  are  under  solemn 
pledges  "  to  crucify  the  flesh  with  its  affections  and  lusts, 
and  to  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  this  present 
evil  world  ?" 

II.  Samson  lost  his  great  strength  in  an  unconscious 
manner.  His  frame  was  not  convulsed  when  the  barber 
removed  his  locks.  No  sobs  revealed  the  fact  that  he 
had  become  as  another  man.  He  slept  on  just  as  other 
men  sleep,  but  when  he  awoke,  he  is  as  other  men,  sav- 
ing that  he  is  now  more  degraded.  When  the  Philis- 
tines come  upon  him  he  finds  himself  really  as  weak  as 
other  men,  and  was  soon  overpowered. 

"  Even  as  a  dove,  whose  wings  are  clipped  for  flying 
Flutters  her  idle  stumps,  and  still  relying 
Upon  her  wonted  refuge,  strives  in  vain 
To  quit  her  life  from  danger,  and  attain 
The  freedom  of  her  air-dividing  plumes; 
She  struggles  often,  and  she  oft  presumes 
To  take  the  sanctuary  of  the  open  fields ; 
But,  finding  that  her  hopes  are  vain,  she  yields  — 
Ever,  so  poor  Samson." — See  Quarles  in  Kitto,p.  413. 

III.   Samson's  history  is  a  pictorial  of  the  progress  ire 


HIS    SOUL    IN    CONSUMPTION.  279 

dowwnard  tendencies  of  sinning.  Glorious  were  the  hopes 
of  his  infancy.  Brightly  shone  his  morning  sun  in  the 
camp  between  Eshtaol  and  Zorali ;  but  soon  he  is  astray 
at  Timnath,  and  then  repentant  on  the  top  of  Etam  then 
sinning  at  Gaza,  but  delivered  by  the  great  mercy  of 
God,  but  only  delivered  to  go  to  Sorek,  and  to  fall  a 
victim  to  Delilah's  fascination.  And  in  his  case,  too,  we 
see  that  the  progress  was  made  through  the  senses,  and 
that  the  organ  of  sense  chiefly  offending  was  made  the 
chief  sufferer.  He  went  down  to  Timnath  and  saw  a 
woman  that  pleased  him.  His  eyes  led  him  astray.  But 
as  yet,  though  smitten,  he  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
begun  his  wayward  course,  for  he  goes  and  consults  his 
father  and  mother  about  the  woman.  But  time  for 
deliberation  ^  and  the  indulgence  of  his  parents  only 
strengthens  his  passion  for  the  maiden.  From  seeing 
her  he  talks  with  her,  and  his  parents  talk  for  him,  and 
at  last  he  is  married,  but  he  does  not  regain  paradise  by 
marrying  a  Philistine.  For  a  good  while  we  know  but 
little  of  him ;  doubtless  he  has  found  much  to  regret, 
but  still  is  far  from  being  established  in  grace,  for  by 
and  by  we  find  him  very  unexpectedly  at  Gaza,  in  a 
most  shameful  career  of  guilt ;  and  when  delivered  by 
supernatural  strength,  he  is  delivered  only  to  go  and 
involve  himself  more  deeply  than  ever  with  another 
Philistine  woman.  Truly  his  conduct  almost  paralyses 
our  attempts  at  explanation. 

No  doubt  his  overt  acts  of  sinning  were  preceded,  as 
is  always  the  case  with  backsliders,  by  a  gradual  and 
secret  consumption  of  his  inner  life.  Our  surprise  is 
not  so  much  at  his  shameless  fall  in  Gaza,  as  at  his  back- 
sliding so  rapidly  as  to  allow  himself  to  fall  at  Sorek  so 


280  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

soon  again  after  his  miraculous  deliverance  from  the 
Gazites.  But  the  stupifying  and  hardening  process  and 
deceitfulness  of  a  course  of  sinning  is  seen,  also,  in  his 
gradual  approach  to  ruin  in  sporting  with  Delilah.  There 
was  a  sort  of  "  method  in  his  madness,"  but  all  tending 
to  his  fall.  He  tells  her  to  bind  him  "  with  seven  green 
withes,"  as  though  jestingly  he  had  said,  bind  me  with  a 
straw,  you  know  I  am  so  fond  of  you,  you  can  do  anything 
you  wish  with  me.  And  when  he  tells  her  to  weave  the 
seven  locks  of  Ms  head,  we  find  him  sporting  with  sacred 
things.  Now  it  is  plain  he  is  lost.  His  enchantress  is 
within  the  guards ;  the  sentinels  are  all  past ;  a  little 
more  cunning  and  perseverance,  and  she  wins.  "  She  has 
allured  him  to  the  brink  of  the  precipice,  where  his 
senses  reel  and  sicken,  and  get  to  be  quite  useless,  and 
as  good  as  abandoned  him."  As  he  decayed  in  spiritual 
life,  so  the  Lord  departed  from  him.  But  like  most 
miserable  backsliders,  he  was  surprised  that  the  Lord 
had  really  forsaken  him.  He  fancied  he  could  have 
proceeded  with  perfect  impunity  to  such  extremities. 
He  was  not  prepared  to  find  himself  forsaken.  But  his 
experience  soon  convinced  him  that  he  had  not  only  lost 
the  graces  and  gifts  with  which  he  had  been  endowed, 
but  as  he  struggled  and  fell  under  the  rude  grasp  of  his 
blood-thirsting  enemies,  he  finds  that  the  Lord  had  indeed 
departed  from  him.  And,  doubtless,  if  we  could  read 
the  inner  history  of  thousands  of  living  men  who  are  ful- 
filling the  lusts  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind,  we  should 
find  that  their  departure  from  the  principles  of  their 
pious  education  had  been  quite  accurately  typified  in 
Samson's  downward  course.  There  is  something  alarm- 
ing and  mournful  in  the  fact  that  the  pious  resolutions 


THE  WORLD'S  GREATEST  UNIVERSITY.        281 

of  many  men,  and  the  feelings  of  their  early  years,  will 
not  be  awakened  till  they  are  on  a  death  bed,  or  at  the 
judgment  seat  of  Christ. 

We  are  prone  to  forget  that  strength  of  character  in 
evil  or  in  good  is  a  growth,  and  may  be  a  slow  and  imper- 
ceptible growth.  The  oak  is  called  the  monarch  of  the 
forest,  but  it  is  not  of  mushroom  growth.  First  the 
acorn  sprouted,  the  tiny  leaf  appeared,  the  rains  bathed 
it,  the  winds  rocked  it,  the  sun  gladdened  it ;  and  as  it 
grew  its  capacities  enlarged,  and  its  arms  were  stretched 
out  for  more  air,  and  dew,  and  sunshine,  and  its  roots 
went  down  deeper  into  the  earth,  to  draw  up  from  thence 
the  necessary  sustenance  and  support.  Frosts  and  snows 
became  as  efficient  educators  as  light,  and  air,  and  dew  f 
and  after  many  changing  seasons  of  day  and  night,  cold 
and  heat,  sunshine  and  storm,  the  tree  was  crowned 
monarch  of  the  forest.  And  so  it  is  in  the  education  ot 
our  children.  Their  development  is  by  degrees ;  their 
mental  and  moral  powers  are  a  growth  as  well  as  their 
bodies  ;  and  all  the  discipline  and  educators  of  the  world 
in  which  they  live  are  necessary  to  give  them  strength 
and  beauty.  They  must  be  cared  for  and  protected — 
they  must  receive  discipline  and  culture  from  misfor- 
tunes as  well  as  from  success.  They  will  have  to  pass 
through  long  dreary  days  as  well  as  through  bright  and 
joyous  ones.  Books  and  men,  persons  and  things,  the 
whole  living  world  of  art  and  of  nature,  is  constantly  giv- 
ing them  lessons.  And  more  than  everything  else,  the 
example  of  their  own  parents  and  immediate  associates. 
The  fireside  is  the  world's  greatest  university.  The  great 
masses  of  mankind  do  not  receive  the  honors  of  a  col- 
lege, but  all  are  graduates  of  the  hearth.  The  learning 


282  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

of  the  books  and  the  lectures  of  university  halls  may 
molder  and  rust  in  the  storehouse  of  memory,  but  the 
simple  lessons  of  home,  enamelled  upon  the  years  of 
childhood,  defy  the  decay  of  years.  In  attempting  to 
clean  and  restore  an  old  portrait,  it  sometimes  happens 
that  a  brighter  picture  is  revealed  beneath  the  old  one. 
So  it  may  be  with  youth  and  manhood.  The  first  pic- 
ture on  the  canvass  is  the  one  drawn  in  our  tenderest 
years,  and  though  it  may  be  covered  over  by  others,  it 
is  imperishable  ;  and  as  time  ripens,  and  we  approach 
nearer  to  eternity,  it  will  shine  through  the  outward 
picture,  and  perhaps  wholly  eclipse  it.  Early  impres- 
sions are  the  strongest,  and  the  last  to  fade  from  the 
memory.  The  home  fireside  is  the  greatest  institution 
God  has  furnished  for  the  education  of  our  race,  and  his 
truth  is  the  most  powerful  agent  for  enlightening  and 
forming  the  mind. 

We  have  said  before  and  we  repeat  it  again,  it  is  upon 
FAMILY  CULTURE  AND  TRAINING,  more  than  anything 
else,  we  place  our  hope  for  the  future  of  our  country. 
Corruption  is  the  plague  of  Republics.  It  makes  them 
weak,  and  then  they  fall  an  easy  prey  to  a  military  des- 
pot. Nor  is  any  system  of  mere  morality  and  civiliza- 
tion sufficient  to  stand  against  the  corrupting  influences 
of  wealth  segregated  from  Christianity.  History  also 
proves,  beyond  cavil,  that  it  is  not  enough  to  cry  out 
against  corruption  when  it  comes.  It  is  then  too  late. 
Demosthenes  did  this.  Cicero  did  the  same ;  and  yet 
both  Athens  and  Rome  perished.  Resistance  was  made 
too  late.  The  only  effectual  stand  that  can  be  made 
against  it  is  in  the  nursery.  OUR  HOMES  MUST  BE  THE 

TRAINING    PLACES    OF    VIRTUE    AND    RELIGION.        The 


RELUCTANCE  TO  GIVE  UP  THE  LAST  HOPE.        283 

mother  and  the  father  must  be  the  great  teachers  of  the 
household.  The  father  must  maintain  discipline  and 
morality,  and  the  mother  must  instil  the  sweet  lessons  of 
pious  sentiments,  and  of  stern  morality  amidst  a  corrupt- 
ing and  sensual  age.  When  all  our  wives  are  "  chaste, 
keepers  at  home,"  and  thoroughly  awake  to  their  high 
behests  as  the  mothers  of  the  model  Republic ;  and 
instead  of  fluttering  in  silk  for  public  admiration,  make 
it  a  paramount  duty  to  teach  their  sons  the  principles  of 
honor,  patriotism,  and  integrity,  then  ive  shall  underwrite 
with  confidence  the  perpetuity  of  our  liberties. 

Then  as  patriots  and  friends  of  the  Great  Redeemer, 
we  must  increase  our  contributions  and  personal  efforts 
to  advance  true  religion  in  the  world.  We  must  not 
sit  still  in  inglorious  ease  until  the  ruins  of  our  distinc- 
tive institutions  bury  us  and  the  hopes  of  mankind 
invested  in  us.  We  must  be  up  and  at  the  powers  of 
avarice,  prejudice,  selfishness,  ignorance,  and  irreligion. 
No  time  is  to  be  lost.  While  we  sleep  the  enemy  sows 
tares ;  and  besides,  the  day  is  far  spent  already,  and 
the  night  cometh  when  no  man  can  work. 

IV.  Once  more,  the  downward  course  of  the  Hebrew 
judge  illustrates  our  reluctance  to  give  up  the  last  badge 
of  our  Nazarite  consecration.  We  find  him  disgustingly 
in  dalliance  with  sin,  and  yet  keeping,  as  it  were,  to  the 
very  last  moment  the  out\vard  sign  of  his  covenant  rela- 
tion to  God.  His  vows  were  for  life.  But  in  those  cases 
where  the  Nazarite  covenant  was  for  a  limited  period  of 
life,  the  expiration  of  that  period  was  signalised  by 
shaving  the  head.  When  Samson,  therefore,  told  his 
religious  secret,  he  took  the  formal  step  to  separate  him- 
self wholly  from  his  God.  Long  since  his  heart  had 


284  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

fearfully  backslidden,  but  i\\Q  form  of  his  religion  he  still 
held  to  with  dogged  pertinacity.  The  substance  of  his 
covenant  he  had  long  since  lost,  but  the  seal  of  it  he  now 
throws  to  the  devil.  I  do  not  wonder,  children  of  pious 
parents,  that  you  are  uneasy  if  living  in  sin  under  such 
vows  as  rest  upon  you.  Nor  do  I  wonder  that  you  are 
reluctant  to  part  with  the  last  locks  that  bind  you  to  the 
God  of  your  fathers.  But  beware,  I  beseech  you,  of 
sceptical  books,  licentious  pictures,  scoffing  companions 
and  of  the  strange  woman.  Forsake  not  the  house  of 
God.  Cleave  to  your  mother's  Bible.  Once  you  begin 
the  way  of  the  backslider,  you  will  find  it  is  upon  "  slip- 
pery places,"  and  that  every  step  becomes  more  and 
more  slippery,  and  the  precipice  darker  and  deeper. 

"  The  mind  that  broods  o'er  guilty  woes 
Is  like  the  scorpion  girt  toy  fire,  — 
So  writhes  the  mind  remorse  hath  riven, 
Unfit  for  earth,  undoorned  for  heaven ; 
Darkness  above,  despair  beneath, 
Around  it  flame,  within  it  death." 

We  hope  Samson  was  saved  from  Satan's  snares,  but 
it  was  as  a  brand  plucked  from  the  burnings  —  saved  as 
by  fire.  Shame,  remorse,  unavailing  regret,  resentment  at 
Delilah's  baseness,  and  a  crushing  sense  of  the  dishonor 
he  had  brought  upon  religion,  were  quite  enough  to  make 
a  purgatory  for  his  soul.  It  is  here  and  in  this  world 
the  torturings  of  the  impenitent  begin.  The  giant  judge 
is  now  a  flaming  beacon  on  the  brow  of  ruin.  Eyeless 
and  grinding  like  the  vilest  slave ;  but  his  bodily  suffer- 
ings and  his  disgrace  are  nothing  to  his  mental  anguish. 
The  pains  of  hell  got  hold  of  him.  Beware,  O  beware 
of  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  which 

"  Weave  the  winding  sheet  of  souls, 
And  lay  them  in  the  urn  of  everlasting  death.' 


Cjie  Jfiiwl  Contest  aifo 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


THE  FINAL  CONTEST  AND  TKAGEDY, 


-"  All  the  contest  is  now 


'Twixt  God  and  Dagon. 

This  day  the  Philistines  a  popular  feast 
Here  celebrate  in  Gaza ;  and  proclaim 
Great  pomp,  and  sacrifice,  and  praises  loud 
To  Dagon,  as  their  God  :— 
With  sacrifices,  triumph,  pomp  and  games, 
Of  gymnick,  artists,  wrestlers,  riders,  runners, 
Jugglers,  and  dancers,  anticks,  mummers,  mimicks. 
Samson  is  dead. 

How  died  he  ?  death  to  life  is  crown  or  shame." 

Milion. 


IN  verses  twenty-one  and  thirtieth,  inclusive,  of  the 
sixteenth  chapter  of  Judges,  we  have  a  remarkable  trag- 
edy upon  a  feast — a  tragedy,  however,  not  as  is  often  the 
case  at  feasts,  from  the  fiends  that  lurk  in  the  wine  cups ; 
but  as  a  judgment  of  God  upon  Dagon  and  his  followers, 
in  vindication  of  his  prime  minister  and  for  the  deliver- 
ance of  his  people.  At  the  beginning  of  this  great  feast 
the  Israelitish  judge  was  in  a  sad  plight.  His  eyes  have 
been  put  out,  and  loaded  with  brazen  fetters  he  is  made 
to  grind  at  the  mill.  And  yet  it  were  better  for  him  to 
be  thus  employed  than  to  have  his  eyes  and  lie  in  Deli- 
lah's lap.  Better  for  him  to  be  grinding  at  the  prison 
mill  in  Gaza,  than  to  be  in  Sorek.  He  was  more  blind 


288  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

with  his  eyes  in  Delilah's  lap,  than  he  was  without  them 
in  the  prison  —  a  greater  slave  when  he  served  her  than 
when  he  ground  meal  for  the  Philistines.  He  saw  not 
his  sins,  till  he  had  no  eyes.  Then  he  began  to  receive 
the  true  illumination.  Then  he  began  to  repent,  and  as 
he  repented  and  was  forgiven,  his  strength  began  to 
return  to  him.  "  God  chasteneth  us  as  sons.  He  loveth 
us  bleeding ;"  and  when  we  have  smarted  enough,  we 
shall  feel  his  loving-kindness.  There  was  a  just  retribu- 
tion in  putting  out  his  eyes,  for  they  were  the  instru- 
ments of  his  sinning.  It  was  the  lust  of  the  eye  that  led 
him  astray.  But  now  this  organ  will  lead  him  no  more 
into  temptation. 

Howbeit  the  hair  of  his  head  began  to  groiv  again,  after 
it  was  shaven.  It  was  natural  that  his  hair  should  grow 
again,  but  as  the  mere  hair  of  his  head  did  not  constitute 
essentially  his  superior  strength,  so  we  must  look  for  his 
power  in  the  coming  conflict  to  a  supernatural  source. 
He  lost  his  strength  because  by  losing  his  hair  he  had 
put  himself  out  of  his  "  condition  of  Nazariteship."  He 
had  violated  his  birth  consecration.  By  disobedience 
he  lost  his  strength ;  but  by  sovereign  mercy,  the  grace 
of  repentance  is  given  to  him  ;  and  as  his  hair  grows ? 
which  was  natural,  so  his  strength  returns,  which  is  super- 
natural, and  returns  in  the  proportion  that  he  increased 
in  grace,  and  was  restored  to  the  divine  favor.  Con- 
vinced of  his  great  sin  in  this  whole  affair' — sensible 
of  his  weakness  and  folly  —  again  in  his  right  mind,  peni- 
tent and  earnestly  imploring  forgivness,  and  renewing 
his  vows  with  a  deeper  sense  of  his  own  unworthiness 
and  dependence  upon  almighty  grace  than  ever  before, 
he  is  again  at  peace  with  God.  But  the  wretched  Phil- 


SAMSON    RECOVERING    HIMSELF. 

istiues  knew  nothing  of  all  this.     They  saw  not  the  strug- 
glings  of  his  great  soul,  and  were  ignorant  of  the  growth 
of  his  inner  life.     They  were  incapable  of  appreciating 
his  anguish  of  spirit,  even  if  they  perceived  it.     And  it 
is  even  so  now ;  the  life  of  a  true  believer  is  in  part  hid- 
den from  the  world.     His  principles,  joys  and  sorrows, 
hopes  and  fears,  the  men  of  the  world  do  not  under- 
stand, neither  can  they,  for  they  are  spiritually  discerned. 
Samson  is  now  chiefly  concerned  with  his  own  heart. 
The  loss  of  his  eyes,  and  the  labor  of  turning  the  mill, 
and  the  gibes  and  coarse  laughter  of  his  old  enemies  were 
nothing  to  him,  in  comparison  with  his  soul's  conflict. 
He  heeded  not  the  outer  world.     His  whole  soul  is  now 
intent  on  recovering  God's  favor.     And  as  he  grew  in 
true  repentance  and  re-devotement,  so  his  strength  began 
to  return  to  him,  and  his  hair  which  was  the  sign  of  his 
covenant  with  God  and  of  his  hold  upon  omnipotent 
power  began  to  grow  also.     In  his  recovery,  therefore, 
we  have  a  correspondence  between  the  outward  sign  and 
the  inward  grace.      The  progressive  growth  of  his  hair 
intimates  his  progressive  repentance  towards   God,  and 
his  growth  in  the  divine  favor.     As  his  recovery  pro- 
gressed, his  meditations  in  his  gloomy  cell  and  in  his  toil 
at  the  prison  mill  must  have  been  exceedingly  varied 
and  his  feelings  intense  —  now  of  self  reproach,  and  then 
of  hope ;  now  of  keenest  grief,  and  then  of  rejoicing  in 
the  overpoAvering  sense  of  divine  forgiveness,  and  in  the 
dawning  hope,  that  yet  he  should  be  able  to  signalise  in 
some  remarkable  way  the  termination  of  his  mission  as 
a  deliverer  of  Israel.     His  experience  in  his  dreary  dark- 
ness and  almost  hopeless  drudgery,  must  have  been  like 
his  life  in  general,  an  extraordinary  one.     It  is  not  for 
M 


290  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

us  to  picture  out  the  tumults,  despairings  and  hopes,  and 
at  last  rejoicings  of  his  soul.  It  was  doubtless  with  him 
as  it  is  with  believers  now  ;  all  his  mere  reasoning  failed, 
and  he  was  compelled  to  seek  refuge  in  the  precious 
promises  of  him  that  is  able  and  willing  to  forgive  us 
our  sins,  if  we  confess  and  forsake  them.  For  the  blood 
of  his  son  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin. 

II.  But  wicked  as  the  Philistines  were,  they  were  a 
religious  people,  according  to  the  religion  of  their  nation. 
"  Then  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  gathered  them 
together,  for  to  offer  a  great  sacrifice  unto  Dagon  their 
god,  and  to  rejoice  ;  for  they  said,  Our  god  hath  delivered 
Samson  our  enemy  into  our  hand. 

"And  when  the  people  saw  him,  they  praised  their 
god  ;  for  they  said,  Our  god  hath  delivered  into  our 
hands  our  enemy  and  the  destroyer  of  our  country,  which 
slew  many  of  us." 

Some  think  the  name  of  this  Philistine  god,  Dagon,  is 
from  a  Hebrew  word  that  signifies  corn  or  wheat,  and 
that  Dagon  was  therefore  the  Syrian  god  of  husbandry. 
Philo-Biblius  in  the  translation  of  Sanchoniathon,  says 
expressly  that  Dagon  means  Siton,  the  god  of  wheat. 
And  that  as  the  Hebrews  have  no  feminine  names  to 
signify  goddesses,  Dagon  is  equivalent  to  Ceres,  the  hea- 
then goddess  of  agriculture  and  plenty.  It  is  at  least 
curious  that  Ceres  is  represented  on  some  medals  of 
Syracuse  as  part  fish.  And  an  Egyptian  medal  repre- 
sents the  goddess  of  plenty,  as  a  woman  with  a  cornu- 
copia in  her  hands,  with  the  tail  of  a  fish,  and  feet  of  a 
sea  calf  or  crocodile.  Others  maintain  that  the  Philis- 
tine Dagon  was  the  Saturn,  the  Jupiter  or  the  Venus  of 
the  Greeks.  There  is  a  great  variety  of  opinions  on  the 


THE    SEA    GOD    OF    ASIA.  291 

subject,  and  also  as  to  the  exact  form  of  the  god  Dagon. 
JBerosus  says  that  Oannes  had  a  fish's  body,  a  human 
head,  and  a  human  foot.  It  is  probable  that  Oes  and 
Oannes  are  one  and  the  same,  and  that  Oannes  is  Dagon, 
who  according  to  tradition  was  originally  a  monster  that 
came  out  of  the  Red  Sea.  It  is  quite  certain  that  an 
ancient  fable  related  that  Oannes,  who  was  half  a  man 
and  half  a  fish,  came  to  Babylon  and  taught  the  arts, 
letters  and  astronomy,  and  afterwards  returned  to  the 
sea,  and  that  he  was  called  Odacon,  that  is  O  Dagon, 
the  Dagon,  the  great  fish.  Is  this  the  symbolic  history 
of  the  colonization  of  Babylonia  from  Egypt  —  the  com- 
ing np  of  people  from  the  overflowing  Nile  by  the  way 
of  the  Red  Sea,  who  brought  with  them  a  degree  of  civili- 
zation then  unknown  on  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  ?  It 
is  very  probable.  Or  if  this  is  not  the  true  explanation, 
is  this  fable  the  story  of  Jonah  in  a  heathen  dress,  Baby- 
lon being  substituted  for  Nineveh,  and  preaching  repen- 
tance, after  the  manner  of 
some  modern  preachers  not 
so  far  away  as  Babylon,  made 
to  mean  teaching  the  arts, 
and  sciences  ?  Or  are  all 
these  traditions  and  fables 
derived  from  some  crude  sto- 
ries of  Noah  and  the  ark 
that  floated  over  the  valley 
of  the  Euphrates,  and  were 
then  carried  east  and  west  from  the  plains  of  Shinar  ? 
The  god  described  by  Berosus  is  to  be  seen  in  a  bas-relief 
of  Khorsabad  representing  a  naval  engagement  or  the 
siege  of  a  city  on  the  sea  coast.  The  figure  is  placed 


292 


THE    GIAXT    JUDGE. 


among  the  fish.  (See  our  engraving.)  The  cap  which 
is  surmounted  by  a  flower  in  shape  like  the  fleur-de-lis, 
signifies  the  sacred  character  of  the  image.  The  right 
hand  is  raised  after  the  manner  of  the  representations 
of  the  winged  deity.  The  same  figure  is  frequently 
found  on  Assyrian  gems  and  cylinders.  The  entrances 
of  two  doorways  at  Nimroud  discovered  by  Mr.  Layard, 
are  formed  by  two  colossal  bas-reliefs  of  Dagon,  or  the 

fish-god,  as  in  our  engrav- 
ing. These  figures  are  large 
and    combine    the    human 
shape  with  that  of  the  fish. 
The  head  of  the  fish  forms 
a  mitre  for  that  of  the  man, 
while   its    scaly  back  and 
fanlike  tail  fall  as  a  cloak 
behind,  exposing  in    front 
the  human  legs   and  feet. 
They  bear  the  sacred  em- 
blems, the  basket  and  the 
cone.       Such   figures    are 
found  also  on  antique  cyl- 
inders and  gems  from  Khor- 
sabad   and    Nimroud,   the 
originals  or  casts  of  which 
are  now  in  the  British  mu- 
seum.      Mr.    Layard    1ms 
also  in  his  possesion  a  fine 
Assyrian    agate   with   the 
same  figure  entire  cut  upon 
it.     "  Colonel  Rawlinson  says  he  has  read  the  name  Da- 
gon among  the  gods  of  Assyria  in  the  cuneiform  inscrip- 


THE  FISH-GOD. 


DAGON  AMONG  HEATHEN  AUTHORS.     293 

tions."  The  proof  is  then  complete  that  there  was  such 
a  god  in  Asia  Minor  and  Assyria.  The  Dagon  of  the 
Philistines  evidently  resembles  the  figures  of  the  Assyr- 
ian sculptures  and  cylinders.  If  we  had  no  other  proof, 
the  discoveries  of  Mr.  Layard  and  of  his  co-laborers 
establish  the  fact  that  the  worship  of  such  a  god  as 
Berosus  describes,  who  is  the  god  of  the  text  and  of 
1  Samuel  (v :  4)  prevailed  in  Mesopotamia  and  Chaldea 
and  the  country  of  the  Philistines. 

After  very  careful  examination  of  all  the  authorities 
within  my  reach,  I  am  confident  there  is  nothing  in  the 
text  that  is  not  abundantly  sustained  by  ancient  history 
and  recent  discoveries.  The  most  probable  derivation 
of  the  name  Dagon  is  from  Dag,  a  fish.  Some  heathen 
writers  seem  to  have  spoken  of  the  same  god  under  the 
name  Derceto,  and  some  by  the  name  Astarte.  At  least 
they  have  ascribed  the  same  form  and  attributes  to  a 
divinity  known  by  each  of  these  names.  According  to 
Lucian1  this  god  was  first  a  fish  with  a  man's  head,  and 
then  with  a  woman's  head.  Diodorus  Sicuhis"  says  this 
god  had  "  the  head  of  a  woman,  and  all  the  rest  of  the 
body  was  like  a  fish.":  Milton,  both  in  his  Paradise  Lost 
and  in  Samson  Agonistes  makes  Dagon  "  a  sea-idol," 
part  man  and  part  fish.  There  is  a  well  known  passage 
in  Horace's  Art  of  Poetry,  which  I  have  not  a  doubt 
is  an  allusion  to  the  idea  then  prevailing  of  this  sea-god 


1  Lucian  de  Deu  Syria. 

2  Diodorus  Siculus,  lib.  ii. 

3  The  learned  Calmet  says  the  same  :  "  Desinet  in  piscem  mulier  formosa 
superne."    Consult  also  Selden  de  Diis  Syris,  c.  3,  de  Dagone.    The  fragments 
of  Berosus  referred  to  may  he  seen  in  Cory's  Fragments  :  p.  30,  as  preserved  by 
Apollodorus.    See  also  Bcyr's  commentary  and  Abarbancl's  on  1  Samuel: 
Layard's  Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  English  ed.  vol.  ii,  p,466,  7.    Also  Layard's 
Discoveries,  second  expedition,  New  York  ed.  p.  344,  etc. 


O 


294  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

Dagon.  Supposing,  says  he,  a  painter  join  a  human 
head  to  a  horse's  neck  ;  or,  in  Francis'  translation  : 

"  Or  if  he  gave  to  view  a  beauteous  maid 
Above  the  waist,  with  eveiy  charm  array'd, 
Should  afoul  fish  her  lower  parts  infold, 
Would  you  not  srnile  such  pictures  to  behold  ?" 

Nor  should  we  forget  the  fact  in  proof  of  this  fish-god's 
worship  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  that 
there  were  at  least  two  cities  in  Palestine,  called  Beth- 
Dayon,  that  is,  the  house  or  temple  of  Dagon.  Joshua 
xv :  41 ;  xix :  27.  One  was  in  Judah  and  one  in  Asher. 

It  appears  in  the  text  that  the  captivity  of  Samson  was 
to  the  Philistines  a  proof  that  their  god  had  gained  the 
victory  over  his  God.  And  in  1  Sam.  iv  :  7  and  v :  2, 
they  are  found  indulging  in  the  same  exultation,  confi- 
dent from  the  ark  having  fallen  into  their  hands,  that 
Dagon  was  superior  to  Jehovah.  In  like  manner  the 
Assyrians,  1  Kings  xx :  28,  fancy  that  they  had  been 
defeated  because  they  had  fought  with  the  Israelites  in 
the  hill  country,  seeing  that  the  God  of  Israel  was  a 
God  of  the  hills,  whereas  their  gods  were  gods  of  the 
valleys.  And  Pharaoah's  haughty  defiance  of  the  power 
of  Jehovah  clearly  implies  that  he  thought  him  merely 
the  national  god  of  the  Hebrews,  and  greatly  inferior  to 
his  own  gods,  and  therefore  he  would  not  hear  his  voice, 
nor  let  Israel  go.  Ex.  v :  2. 

I  have  dwelt  thus  minutely,  perhaps  too  much  so,  on 
this  point  in  order  that  we  might,  if  possible,  suggest  the 
method  of  harmonizing  ancient  writers  and  modern  dis- 
coveries concerning  the  fish-god  of  the  East.  And  in 
doing  so  we  find  what  we  know  also  from  other  source-, 
that  each  nation  was  supposed  to  have  its  own  divinities, 


SIR    CHRISTOPHER    WREN.  295 

who  went  to  war  with  them,  and  sympathized  with  their 
heroes  in  fight,  and  were  either  victorious  or  vanquished 
as  might  be  the  fate  of  their  mortal  representatives. 
And  I  trust  also  this  synopsis  of  what  seems  pertinent  to 
the  understanding  of  the  text,  will  show  how  ancient 
fables  and  traditions  corroborate  Bible  history,  and  bear 
their  testimony  to  the  verities  of  revelation. 

III.  We  are  now  introduced  to  the  god  of  this  "  sol- 
emn feast."  Let  us  consider  the  house  of  their  worship 
and  its  downfall. 

From  the  text  we  learn  that  the  house  in  which  the 
Philistine  lords  were  gathered  together  to  offer  a  great 
sacrifice  unto  Dagon,  their  god,  was  full  of  men  and 
women,  and  that  it  stood  on  and  was  borne  up  by  "two 
middle  pillars."  But  I  think  the  labor  of  the  learned  to 
prove  that  this  house  had  but  two  pillars,  all  lost.  It  is 
not  historically  true  that  the  ancients  made  any  such 
structures  resting  only  on  two  pillars.  And  so  far  as  the 
history  before  us  is  concerned,  there  may  have  been  as 
many  pillars  to  the  house  of  Dagon,  as  there  are  in  the 
hall  of  the  thousand  pillars  of  Constantinople,  or  in  the 
great  hall  of  Karnak,  and  yet  the  two  centre  pillars  being 
the  key  to  the  building,  may  have  so  borne  it  up,  that  it 
maybe  said  to  have  stood  on  them, and  when  they  were 
pulled  down,  the  whole  edifice  fell  to  the  ground. 

Sir  Christopher  Wren's  explanation  of  the  structure 
and  fall  of  this  edifice  is  this,  he  says :  "  conceive  a  vast 
roof  of  cedar  beams  resting  at  one  end  upon  the  walls, 
and  centering  at  the  other  upon  one  short  architrave  that 
united  two  cedar  pillars  in  the  middle.  One  pillar  would 
not  be  sufficient  to  unite  the  ends  of  at  least  one  hundred 
beams  that  tended  to  the  centre  ;  therefore  I  say,  there 


29  C  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

must  have  been  a  short  architrave  resting  upon  two  pil- 
lars, upon  which  all  the  beams  tending  to  the  centre 
might  be  supported.  Now  if  Samson,  by  his  miraculous 
strength,  pressing  on  one  or  both  these  pillars,  moved 
it  from  its  basis,  the  whole  roof  must  of  necessity  fall." 
(Hewlett's  Bible,  quoted  by  Bush  in  loco.)  These  re- 
marks from  so  eminent  an  architect  are  commended  to 
the  attention  of  those  who  denv  that  the  ancients  built 

tt 

such  structures  at  all,  or  if  they  did,  Samson  could  not 
have  demolished  such  a  one  in  the  manner  described  in 
the  text.  I  do  not,  however,  see  the  necessity  of  decid- 
ing whether  the  Philistines'  building  were  a  temple  or  a 
market  or  a  palace.  Yv7e  know  that  the  Egyptians  had 
temples  and  palaces  long  before  this,  and  we  have  found 
that  the  Philistines  were  of  Egyptian  origin.  It  is  also 
known  that  temples,  market  places  and  palaces  were 
sometimes  all  united  together.  The  same  custom  ob- 
tained subsequently  in  Greece  and  Rome.  I  am  aware 
that  it  is  urged  as  an  objection  to  the  historic  verity  of 
the  text,  that  if  such  a  building  had  been  demolished  in 
this  way,  greater  prominence  would  have  been  given  to 
such  a  catastrophe.  But  the  text  does  not  state  that  all 
the  building  fell.  It  may  be  that  only  the  wing  or  pro- 
truding portion  opposite  to  the  grand  entrance,  in  which 
the  lords  and  their  families  were  assembled  fell.  And 
besides  how  do  we  know  that  it  did  not  make  a  profound 
sensation  in  all  the  surrounding  country?  Where  are 
the  annals  of  the  Philistine  satrapies  that  say  it  did  not  ? 
It  is  fairly  inferred  from  the  text  that  it  did  make  a 
profound  impression;  for  the  warrior  thousands  of  Phil- 
istiamade  no  resistance  to  Samson's  brethren,  who  came 
and  took  away  his  body  from  the  ruins,  and  buried  him 


ANCIENT    AMPHITHEATRES.  297 

in  the  sepulchre  of  his  father  Manoah,  as  a  prince  and 
a  great  man  in  Israel.  At  least  we  are  bold  to  say  that 
there  is  not  a  syllable  uttered  or  fairly  implied  from  our 
record  that  is  inconsistent  with  the  known  usages  of 
that  age  and  country.  The  proof  is  complete  that  the 
ancients  constructed  vast  sacred  enclosures.  They  were 
generally  a  kind  of  amphitheatre  or  arena,  the  first  tier 
of  which  usually  came  near  or  quite  together  on  pillars 
at  or  opposite  to  the  main  opening.  The  first  and  lowest 
tier  converged  somewhat  like  the  heels  of  a  horse-shoe 
upon  the  pillars  at  the  lower  side,  and  rose  rapidly  behind. 
Within  the  walls  and  under  the  seats  were  numerous 
cloisters  or  stalls.  The  seats  receded  in  regular  tiers 
from  the  open  court  which  was  for  the  wild  beasts  and 
wrestlers  or  gladiators.  Sometimes  a  portion  of  the 
court  and  of  the  seats  was  covered  with  a  flat  or  gently 
declining  roof.  These  amphitheatres  were  the  largest 
structures  of  the  ancients.  They  were  computed  to 
have  been  large  enough  to  hold  from  fifty  to  eighty 
thousand  spectators.  The  ruins  of  these  of  Athens, 
Nismes,  Verona  and  Rome  which  still  exist,  prove  their 
magnitude.  There  is  no  difficulty  then  in  finding  room 
for  the  multitude  of  men  and  women  to  witness  the  sport 
of  the  Hebrew  captive,  nor  in  explaining  how  the  build- 
ing, or  a  portion  of  it,  rested  on  two  main  key  pillars. 
Nor  are  we  without  collateral  evidence.  Tacitus  in  his 
Annals  (lib.  vi :  62)  tells  us  of  an  amphitheatre  that  fell 
almost  in  the  same  way  as  this  house  of  the  Philistines. 
And  Pliny  (His.  Nat.  xxxvi :  15)  says  two  theatres  at 
Rome,  built  by  Caius  Curio,  were  large  enough  to  hold 
all  the  Roman  people,  and  yet  so  constructed  as  to  depend 
upon  a  single  hinge  or  pivot  for  support.  And  Dr. 


-•*•• 

M* 


298  THK     GIANT     JUDGE. 

Shaw  in  his  travels  and  observations  in  the  Barbary 
States  and  Levant,  says  that  he  "frequently  saw  the 
inhabitants  of  Algiers  diverting  themselves  upon  the 
Dey's  palace  ;  which,  like  many  more  of  the  same  quality 
and  denomination,  has  an  advanced  cloister  over  against 
the  gate  of  the  palace,  made  in  the  form  of  a  large  pent- 
house, supported  only  by  one  or  two  contiguous  pillars 
in  the  front,  or  else  in  the  centre.  In  such  open  struc- 
tures as  these,  the  great  officers  of  state  distribute  justice, 
and  transact  the  public  affairs  of  their  provinces.  Here, 
likewise,  they  have  their  public  entertainments,  as  the 
lords  of  the  Philistines  had  in  the  temple  of  their  god. 
Supposing,  therefore,  that  in  the  house  of  Dagon  was  a 
cloistered  building  of  this  kind,  the  pulling  down  of  the 
front  or  centre  pillars  which  supported  it,  would  alone 
be  attended  with  the  catastrophe  which  happened  to  the 
Philistines." 

Bearing  in  mind  these  historic  facts — that  the  ancients 
used  large  buildings  for  the  transaction  of  business,  for 
holding  public  assemblies,  for  games,  feasts  and  religious 
ceremonies  —  that  such  structures  were  made  sometimes 
round,  and  sometimes  nearly  in  the  shape  of  a  horse- 
shoe, so  that  the  building  was  made  to  rest  mainly  on 
two  or  a  few  pillars  in  the  foreground  or  portico,  as  an 
arch  rests  upon  a  key  stone  —  and  then  consider  the 
great  weight  of  such  an  assemblage  as  was  on  the  roof 
—  and  bear  in  mind,  that  Samson  pulled  or  pushed  one 
of  these  pillars  with  his  right  hand  and  the  other  with 
his  left,  and  called  at  the  same  time  upon  his  God,  who 
strengthened  him ;  and  we  have  no  difficulty  in  believ- 
ing that  at  least  the  portion  of  the  building  containing 
the  lords  came  crashing  down  with  great  violence,  kill- 


THE    NARRATIVE    CREDIBLE.  299 

ing  them  and  crushing  those  that  were  below,  amongst 
whom  was  Samson  himself.  It  is  not  at  all  necessary 
that  we  should  be  able  to  point  to  a  building  now  in  the 
East  exactly  like  this  one.  The  essential  parts  of  such 
a  structure  are  to  be  found,  and  historically  we  know 
such  buildings  were  used  by  the  ancients,  and  that  simi- 
lar catastrophes  have  occurred  in  other  places.  Every- 
thing known  of  ancient  times  and  of  surrounding  nations 
corroborates  the  truthfulness  of  the  Bible  narrative  as  an 
authentic  history.  It  must  not  be  overlooked,  however, 
that  Samson  pulled  down  the  building  by  the  Spirit  of 
the  Almighty.  Bible  histories  are  not  incredible,  because 
they  are  not  impossible,  nor  under  the  circumstances  are 
they  improbable.  The  hand  of  JEHOVAH  was  in  them. 
Who  then  can  say  they  are  impossible  ?  The  Almighty 
is  never  at  a  loss  for  agents  or  means  by  which  to  serve 
his  people  and  fulfill  his  purposes.  Samson,  now  penitent 
and  forgiven,  has  his  commission  restored  to  him,  and  in 
the  last  acts  of  his  life  as  in  his  earlier  days,  we  find  him 
again  performing  exploits  as  God's  agent. 

IV.  THE  SUPERSTITION  of  the  Philistines  misinter- 
preted the  cause  of  their  success  against  Samson.  It 
was  not  because  their  god  had  prevailed  over  Samson's 
God,  but  because  Samson  had  disobeyed  his  God.  It 
was  owing  to  his  sinning,  and  not  to  Dagon's  superiority 
that  he  was  helpless  in  their  hands.  The  barbarians  of 
Melita  fell  into  a  similar  mistake  in  regard  to  Paul. 
It  is  the  nature  of  all  superstitions  to  make  mistakes  by 
arousing  false  fears,  leading  to  wrong  conclusions,  and 
ascribing  effects  to  causes  which  do  not  exist.  Accord- 
ing to  their  theory  and  practice  on  this  occasion,  when 
Samson  smote  them  "  hip  and  thigh  with  a  great  slaugh- 


300  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

ter,"  and  when  he  slew  the*m  "  heaps  upon  heaps  with 
the  jaw-bone  of  an  ass,"  they  should  have  said,  "  Our 
god  has  failed  us."  When  smarting  under  Samson's 
blows,  they  should  have  said,  where  is  now  our  god  ? 
Why  does  he  allow  our  enemy  to  prevail  ?  But  to  their 
praise  be  it  said,  we  find  them  more  ready  to  bless  than 
to  curse  their  deity.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  their 
idolatry  and  cruelty,  they  cannot  be  charged  with  ingrati- 
tude. They  did  not  forget  to  ascribe  their  success  to 
their  god.  They  knew  that  it  was  Delilah  that  had 
betrayed  Samson  into  their  hands,  yet  as  they  shouted 
the  praises  of  Dagon,  they  said  "  Our  god  hath  delivered 
our  enemy  into  our  hands."  In  their  gratitude  they  are 
a  model  to  us.  Generally  men  claim  all  their  prosperity 
as  due  to  themselves,  but  cast  the  blame  of  their  mis- 
carriages upon  their  bad  luck,  which  is  their  way  of 
accusing  providence.  This  is  both  unjust  and  sinful. 

As  on  a  former  occasion,  so  here,  their  shout  was 
Samson's  battle  cry.  No  doubt,  their  boisterous  praise 
of  Dagon  was  a  great  mortification  to  him.  He  knew 
they  ascribed  their  success  against  him  to  their  god,  and 
regarded  his  fall  and  disgrace  as  a  proof  that  Dagon 
had  triumphed  over  JEHOVAH.  Ah  !  the  dishonor  that 
he  felt  he  had  brought  upon  his  religion  was  his  keenest 
grief.  His  captivity,  blindness,  and  bodily  sufferings 
were  nothing  to  him  in  comparison  with  his  agony  for 
having  sinned  against  the  living  and  true  God.  It  was 
true  then,  and  it  is  true  now,  the  heathen  judge  of  the 
Christian's  God,  not  so  much  by  his  creed  and  catechism 
as  by  his  conduct  and  condition  in  the  world.  The  man- 
ners and  modes  of  dealing  with  the  heathen  practiced  by 
merchants  and  travellers  form  the  heathen  idea  of  chris- 


SAMSON    MAKING    SPOET.  301 

tianity  more  directly  than  any  other  source  of  influence. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass  when  their  hearts  were  merry, 
that  they  said,  Call  for  Samson  that  he  may  make  us 
sport.  And  they  called  for  Samson  out  of  the  prison- 
house,  and  he  made  them  sport :  and  they  set  him  be- 
tween the  pillars." 

Milton  says  Samson  at  first  refused  to  attend  their 
feast  to  make   sport  before  Dagon,  but  being  at  length 
persuaded  imvardly  that  it  was  an  occasion  from  God, 
he  went.     They  had  power  to  compel  his  attendance 
whether  he  would  or  not.     He  was  powerless  in  their 
hands.     It  is  not  stated  here  what  kind  of  sport  he  was 
to  make.     The    Septuagint  and   Josephus  think   their 
purpose  was  to  insult  him,  and  make  him  a  laughing- 
stock.    According   to   the    Septuagint,  "  they   buffeted 
him."     Josephus  says  :  "  He  was  brought  out  that  they 
might  insult  him  in  their  cups."     At  all  events,  they 
would  have  no  other  sport  but  from  the  great  Hebrew. 
He  who  had  been  their  terror,  must  now  be  their  play. 
Every  man,  woman  and  boy  could  now  laugh  at  the  blind 
hero,  that   had    once  been  their  most  fearful    enemy. 
Scorn  is  added  to  misery :  insult  to  injury.     No  doubt 
Samson  was  ready  to  wish  himself  deaf  as  well  as  blind, 
that  he  might  not  hear  their  cruel  jests  arid  horrid  blas- 
phemies.   Whether  Samson  amused  them  first  with  some 
attempts  at  extraordinary  strength,  as  he  was  made  the 
butt  of  their  jests  or  not,  he  did  at  last  make   sport  for 
them  with  a  vengeance.     In  the  East  it  was  common  at 
their  feasts  to  htive  athletic  sports. 

But  now  that  the  heathen  have  triumphed,  will  not 
God  arise  ?  Now  that  Samson  has  repented,  as  did 
Peter  with  many  bitter  tears,  and  is  forgiven  —  and  his 


302  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

hair  has  grown  and  he  is  again  in  covenant  with  his 
God,  how  shall  his  enemies  escape  ?  For  if  judgment 
begin  in  God's  own  house  and  upon  his  own  chosen  ser- 
vants, what  shall  be  the  end  of  the  ungodly,  who  obey 
not  his  voice  ?  Surely  it  is  the  hour  of  long  pent  up 
and  terrible  vengeance.  May  not  Samson  now  vindi- 
cate the  superiority  of  Jehovah  over  the  false  Philistine 
god  ?  Yes ;  the  whole  scene  is  now  changed.  The 
contest  is  no  longer  between  the  Hebrew  judge  and 
the  Philistine  lords,  but  between  Dagon  and  Jehovah. 
The  battle  is  now  to  rage  on  Mount  Olympus,  and 
Troy  is  to  be  lost  or  won  in  heaven,  and  not  on  the 
dusty  plains  below.  From  Hebrews  xi,  it  is  clear 
that  Samson's  prayer  (twenty-eighth  verse)  was  the 
prayer  of  sincere  faith.  It  was  through  faith  he  pre- 
vailed. If  he  had  not  been  truly  penitent,  and  had  not 
been  accepted  of  God,  his  last  prayer  could  not  have 
been  successful.  His  struggle  of  mind  must  have  been 
great.  But  out  of  despair  he  gathered  hope,  as  his  ene- 
mies increased  in  their  boisterous  blasphemy.  The 
case  seemed  a  desperate  one.  The  temple  is  full  of 
men  and  women,  making  themselves  merry  at  his  ex- 
pense, and  in  blaspheming  the  living  God.  He  begins 
again  to  feel  the  Spirit  of  God  stirring  him  as  in  years 
long  since  past.  His  sun  of  Austerlitz  again  rises.  He 
remembers  that  the  great  commission  from  heaven 
announced  for  him  before  he  was  born,  was  to  begin  to 
deliver  Israel  from  the  Philistines.  He  asks  himself, 
mav  it  not  be  that  now  I  shall  be  able  to  vindicate 

it 

the  superiority  of  God  Almighty  over  this  wretched 
idol,  whom  his  enemies  are  worshipping  ?  May  it  not 
be  that  for  this  hour  I  have  been  spared,  and  that  now 


HOW    SAMSON    DIED.  303 

I  may  most  wonderfully  redeem  my  great  commission  ? 
And  he  catted  upon  the  Lord,  and  he  said,  0  Lord 
God,  remember  me,  I  pray  thee,  and  strengthen  me,  1 
pray  thee,  only  this  once,  0  God.  And  he  took  hold 
of  the  two  middle  pillars  upon  which  the  house  stood 
and  on  which  it  was  borne  up,  of  the  one  with  his  right 
hand,  and  of  the  other  with  his  left,  and  said,  Let  me 
die  with  the  Philistines. 

Solemnly  re-dedicating  himself  to  God,  consecrating 
his  life  as  a  patriot  and  a  martyr,  if  God  would  now  be 
pleased  to  accept  it,  as  the  last,  best  and  only  offering 
he  had  to  make  —  praying  this  once  more  to  be  heard, 
and  that  he  might  die  with  the  Philistines,  fulfilling  in 
his  last  act  and  dying  moment  the  terrible  mission  for 
which  he  had  been  raised  up  ;  and  as  he  prayed  he 
bowed  himself  with  all  his  might,  and  the  house  fell 
upon  the  lords  and  upon  all  the  people  that  were 
therein.  So  the  dead  which  he  slew  at  his  death  were 
more  than  they  which  he  slew  in  his  life.  Neither 
Leonidas  nor  Lord  Nelson  had  a  death  so  terribly  sub- 
lime. His  was  not  the  suicide's  death,  but  that  of  a 
martyr  who  consecrates  himself  to  death,  if  such  is 
God's  will,  in  the  performance  of  duty  or  the  mainte- 
nance of  truth.  The  result  proves  that  God  did  gra- 
ciously condescend  to  hear  his  prayer,  and  to  accept  his 
consecration.  For  without  direct  supernatural  power 
he  could  not  have  thus  prevailed  over  his  enemies. 

V.  It  has  been  objected  that  Samson's  last  prayer  is 
not  the  prayer  of  a  dying  Christian — that  it  breathes 
the  spirit  of  revenge,  which  is  wholly  unbecoming  a 
pious  man  at  any  time,  and  much  less  so  in  his  dying 
moments.  To  this  we  reply  : 


304  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

1st.  However  comforting  it  may  be  to  a  dying  man 
himself  and  to  his  surrounding  friends  to  utter  nothing 
but  pious  words,  ecstatic  hopes  and  fervent  supplica- 
tions—  however  desirable  it  may  be  to  die  in  the  full 
assurance  of  heaven,  almost  in   sight  of  the  celestial 
city,  as  Stephen  did  —  still  such  experiences  and  dying 
deliverances  are  not  required  to  prove  our  acceptance 
with  God.     A  man  may  be  a  godly  man,  and  die  with- 
out such  ecstatic  joys.     The  operations  of  the  divine 
spirit  are  manifold.     Our  experience  and  utterances  of 
inward  life  are  molded  very  much  by  our  temperaments 
and  style  of  education.     Holiness  is  essential  to  the  en- 
joyment of  God.     And  holiness  is  a  habitude,  rather 
than  a  spasm   or  temporary  emotion.     And  ordinarily 
this  spiritual  habitude  is  the  growth  of  a  life  of  prayer 
and  godliness  under  the  culture  of   the  divine   spirit. 
The  life  and  faith,  and  not  the  feelings  of  a  man  in  his 
dying  moments,  are  to  be  taken  as  exponents  of  his  state 
in  the  sight  of  God. 

2dly.  Samson  was  educated  out  of  the  law  of  the 
Lord,  which  required  "  an  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth 
for  a  tooth."  Retaliation  was  his  catechism.  I  do  not 
now  consider  why  such  was  the  law  of  Moses.  The 
fact  is  certain.  But  it  is  equally  certain  that  our  Lord 
alludes  to  this  very  law  of  Moses,  and  changes  it,  say- 
ing, it  shall  no  longer  be  "  an  eye  for  an  eye  ; "  but  I 
say  unto  you,  "  resist  not  evil  with  evil;  pray  for  your 
enemies  ;  forgive  them ;  do  good  to  them  that  despite- 
fully  use  you,  that  you  may  become  the  children  of  your 
father  which  is  in  heaven."  Samson  had  not  then 
before  him,  as  we  have,  the  example  of  the  meek  and 
suffering  man-Almighty.  He  had  not  his  history  in  the 


SAMSON    A    SOLDIER.  305 

garden,  and  in  Pilate's  hall,  and  on  the  cross.  He  had 
not  heard  the  prayer,  nor  any  such  an  one  :  "  Father, 
forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  It  is 
not  fair,  therefore,  for  us  to  pronounce  on  the  prayer  of 
the  penitent  and  dying  judge  from  our  stand-point  of 
gospel  light,  bin  according  to  the  light  of  Moses'  dis- 
pensation. We  should  not  expect  him  to  die  as  P.aul 
did.  His  mission  and  character  belong  wholly  to  a 
different  dispensation. 

3dly.  We  must  remember  that  Samson's  prayer  was 
in  keeping  with  his  divine  commission.  As  a  soldier, 
he  dies  in  the  heat  of  the  battle  with  his  armor  on.  If 
it  was  right  for  him  to  bear  his  commission  to  destroy 
the  Philistines  for  the  vindication  of  God  and  the  de- 
liverance of  Israel  from  their  oppressors,  then  his  death 
was  in  the  v:ay  of  duty.  He  was  sent  to  execute  divine 
judgments  on  the  oppressors  of  God's  people.  He  did 
not,  therefore,  throw  his  life  away.  He  did  not  lay  rash 
hands  upon  himself.  He  did  not  know  what  the  final 
result  would  be,  but  as  every  other  soldier  who  goes 
into  battle  for  his  country  and  for  the  truth  of  God,  he 
puts  his  life  in  jeopardy.  He  takes  it  in  his  hand,  ready 
at  any  moment  to  offer  it  up  as  a  sacrifice.  As  his  hair 
had  grown,  his  experience  of  divine  grace  had  in- 
creased ;  until  now,  when  God's  enemies  were  at  the 
very  highest  point  of  exultation  and  defiance,  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  moved  him  once  more  —  first,  to  say,  0 
Lord  Go'L  re  me  ml  XT  me ,  /  pray  thee  ;  only  this  once, 
0  God,  and  then  moved  him  to  lean  against  the  pillars 
and  take  hold  of  them,  and  at  the  same  time  stirred  him 
up  to  further  prayer,  saying,  If  such  is  now  the  divine 
will,  in  fulfilling  my  commission,  let  me  even  die  with 


306  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

the  Philistines.  And  the  Lord  heard  his  prayer,  ac- 
cepted the  offering  of  his  body  and  soul,  and  in  his 
death  he  slew  more  than  in  all  his  life. 

" Samson  hath  quit  himself 

Like  Samson,  and  heroicly  hath  finished 
A  life  heroic." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE  EPILOGUE  AND  ITS  TEACHINGS. 

"  Like  a  visitant 

From  th'  other  world,  he  comes  as  if  to  haunt 
Thy  guilty  soul  with  dreams  of  lost  delight, 
Long  lost  to  all  but  memory's  aching  sight :— 

As  when  the  spirit  of  our  youth 

Eeturns  in  sleep,  sparkling  with  all  the  truth 
And  innocence  once  ours,  and  leads  us  back 
In  mournful  mocker.y,  o'er  the  shining  track 
Of  our  young  life,  and  points  out  every  ray 
Of  hope  and  peace  we've  lost  upon  the  way." 

Lalla  Rookh. 

THE  late  venerable  Dr.  Miller  of  Princeton,  N.  J., 
who  was  one  of  the  most  perfect  and  well  balanced  men 
as  a  scholar,  theologian  and  Christian  gentleman  this 
country  has  ever  produced,  used  to  say,  that  if  a  student 
had  sense  enough  to  bear  it,  it  was  an  advantage  to  put 
him  to  studying  a  text  book  that  required  some  correc- 
tions, for  the  detection  of  the  errors  and  their  correction 
helped  amazingly  to  keep  up  the  attention,  and  draw  out 
his  own  resources.  There  is  certainly  such  a  thing  as 
being  so  straight  as  to  lean  over.  There  may  be  so  much 
straining  of  rules  as  to  destroy  all  the  benefits  of  disci- 
pline. Children  were  made  to  play  as  well  as  study,  to 
laugh  heartily  as  well  as  to  think  seriously.  The  bow 


308  THE     GIAXT     JUDGE. 

always  bent  is  sometimes  converted  into  a  straight  jacket. 
To  laugh  v/ell  is  a  medicine  for  the  body  and  the  mind, 
and  to  be  able  to  wonder  well  is  a  great  blessing.  One 
of  the  old  fathers,  and  may  his  shadow  never  be  less, 
Clemens  Alexandrinus,  says  :  "  The  beginning  of  truth 
is  to  wonder,  for  this  proceeds  from  conscious  ignorance." 
The  old  Stagy  rite  had  taught  almost  the  same  thing  before 
the  Alexandrine  was  born,  when  he  said,  it  is  by  wonder- 
ing men  begin  to  love  philosophy  and  to  grow  wise. 
(Metaph.  1,  2,  Arist.)  It  is  true,  however,  that  there  is 
a  kind  of  foolish  wonder,  that  does  not  promise  much 
good --but  even  that  is  not  so  hopeless  as  ignorance  so 
profound  as  to  be  unconscious  of  its  own  existence.  It 
were  better  men  should  be  astrologers  than  that  they 
should  be  so  stupid  as  not  to  know  that  there  are  any 
stars  over  their  heads.  I  should  rather  undertake  to 
teach  those  that  are  stone-blind,  than  those  who  are  so 
stupid  and  indolent  that  they  will  not  open  their  eyes  ; 
for  the  stone-blind  feel  and  acknowledge  their  blindness, 
and  may  learn  to  read  without  eyes  ;  whereas  the  others 
are  so  self-sufficient  and  content  with  their  blindness  that 
they  either  deny  that  they  are  blind  at  all,  or  declare  it 
best  to  be  blind.  jS^othing  is  so  hopeless  as  ignorance 
too  complete  to  wonder ;  for  then  there  are  no  errors 
that  may  lead  to  a  knowledge  of  truth.  If  the  begin- 
ning of  wisdom  is  to  fear  God  and  know  ourselves,  then 
may  we  say  that  the  faculty  to  wonder  is  a  shadow  of 
something  beautiful  and  good  to  come.  I  do  not  belong 
to  the  school  that  would  blot  out  from  our  juvenile  litera- 
ture the  seven  wise  men  of  Gotham,  Blue  Beard,  Jack 
the  giant  killer,  Ivobinson  Crusoe,  the  Arabian  Nights, 
and  fairy  tales  in  general.  By  no  means.  In  judicious 


SAMSON'S  LIFE  PROFITABLE.  309 

hands  this  species  of  literature  is  invaluable  for  training 
and  purifying  the  youthful  mind.  It  were  far  better  to 
excite  the  love  of  the  marvelous,  and  even  of  the  terri- 
bly sublime  than  of  the  gross  and  sensual.  After  the 
nursery  period  well  employed,  some  five  or  six  authors 
are  quite  enough  to  train  the  intellect  and  heart.  Who 
needs  to  know  more  than  he  can  learn  from  the  BIBLE, 
Homer,  Dante,  Shakspeare,  Bacon,  and  Milton, .and  a 
few  standard  historians  ? 

The  sacred  story  of  Israel's  giant  judge  is  a  wonder- 
ful one,  but  it  is  as  true  as  marvelous.  It  is  a  simple 
earnest,  straight  forward  narrative  of  a  man  —  a  real 
man,  and  of  what  he  did,  and  of  what  befell  him  in  just 
such  a  world  as  we  live  in,  and  among  men,  women  and 
children  exactly  such  as  we  are.  We  believe  the  Bible 
Samson  is  the  original  of  all  the  stories  of  Hercules  that 
fill  so  many  pages  of  heathen  literature.  And  by  excit- 
ing attention  to  his  life,  we  hope,  on  the  love  of  the  won- 
derful to  plant  a  lever  that  shall  turn  the  whole  heart  to 
truth.  Joseph,  Daniel,  Nehemiah  and  various  other 
Bible  heroes  are  more  to  our  liking;  but,  if  "there  is," 
as  the  bard  of  Avon  says,  "  a  history  in  all  men's  lives," 
I  fancy  Samson's  is  not  an  exception,  and  as  his  biogra- 
phy has  been  given  to  us  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  our 
duty  to  remove  objections  to  it,  and  see  what  it  teaches 
us.  As  already  intimated,  Samson's  acts  are  more  for 
our  wonder  than  for  our  imitation ;  nevertheless  impor- 
tant principles  are  unfolded  in  his  history.  Much  as 
Milton's  Samson  Ayonistes  is  to  be  admired  as  a  whole, 
it  seems  to  us,  he  wholly  fails  to  appreciate  his  character. 
The  dying  speech  which  he  puts  into  his  moirth  as  he 
pulls  down  the  temple  is  not  true  to  the  text,  nor  worthy 


310  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

of  the  occasion.  It  falls  far  below  our  idea  of  Samson 
in  that  awful  moment.  His  enemies  were  in  force 
around  him,  mocking  him  and  his  God.  He  knew  that 
it  was  their  custom  on  such  occasions,  after  they  had 
satisfied  themselves  with  feasting  and  sport,  to  sacrifice 
their  chief  prisoner  to  their  gods.  In  this  great  extrem- 
ity, therefore,  he  betook  himself  to  prayer  for  grace  to 
triumph  in  a  martyr's  death,  if  the  Lord  would  be  pleased 
to  grant  him  such  an  honor.  Having  eyes  now  to  see 
him  who  is  invisible,  he  said  :  "  O  Lord  God,  I  pray  thee 
think  upon  me  ;  O  Lord  God,  I  beseech  thee  strengthen 
me  at  this  time  only.  For  thy  great  name's  sake  —  for 
thy  glory  among  the  heathen,  help  me,  O  Lord,  help  me 
this  one  time."  It  was  zeal  for  the  divine  glory,  and  to 
retrieve  the  honor  of  the  God  of  his  fathers,  that  had 
been  tarnished  by  his  fall,  that  made  him  so  anxious 
now  to  die  in  such  a  way  as  to  fulfill  in  his  death  more 
fully  than  he  had  done  in  his  life,  the  mission  for  which 
he  had  been  raised  up.  As  he  knew  he  was  now  about 
to  die,  he  seized  this  as  the  last  opportunity  to  deliver 
Israel  and  show  that  Jehovah  and  not  Dagon  was  the 
true  and  living  God.  In  his  death  scene,  therefore,  we 
see  fast  by  his  side  again  the  presence  of  the  Angel — 

"  Who  from  his  father's  field 
Rode  up  in  flames 

From  off  the  altar,  where  an  offering  burn'd 
As  in  afieiy  column  charioting." 

When  dying  we  see  him  filled  again  with — 

"  That  Spirit  that  first  rushed  upon  him  in  the  camp  of  Dan." 

The  lordly  city  of  Gaza  speaks  then  to  us  historically, 
from  a  period  beyond  which  the  memory  of  man  runneth 


GAZA'S  RUINS  STILL  TEACHING.  311 

not.  It  was  once  the  treasure-house  of  a  Persian  con- 
queror, as  indeed  its  name  is  supposed  to  signify.  But 
how  its  name  came  to  be  prophetic  of  its  treasures,  we 
know  not.  True,  Philistine  Sheikhs,  Arabian  Emirs, 
Assyrian,  Persian,  Egyptian,  Greek  and  Roman  con- 
querors and  kings  have  battled  for  its  gates.  Saladin 
the  magnificent  and  Richard  the  lion-heart,  and  Napo- 
leon the  great  took  some  of  life's  stern  lessons  under  the 
skies  that  still  look  down  on  Gaza.  Ancient  Gaza  is  all 
in  ruins  —  shapeless,  nameless  ruins — capitals,  archi- 
traves, columns,  cornices  and  marble  floors,  the  cedar,  fir 
and  acacias,  alabaster  and  granite,  that  once  echoed  to 
the  shouts  of  the  worshippers  of  the  great  fish  god,  though 
now  unlettered  still  utter  forth  a  loud  and  distinctly 
articulate  voice.  Its  stores  of  wine  and  oil,  and  treas- 
ures of  jewels  and  costly  spices  are  no  more  ;  but  Gaza 
still  has  for  us  treasures  more  valuable — lessons  of  in- 
struction and  warning — not  only  to  those  who  are  driv- 
ing through  life  with  a  Jehu  speed  in  fulfilling  the  lusts 
of  the  eye  and  the  pride  of  the  mind  ;  but  for  all,  old 
and  young,  and  of  every  class.  The  marvelous  career 
of  the  giant  judge,  and  his  tragical  end  is  a  lesson  for 
our  every-day  life. 

1.  Samson's  life  illustrates  God's  long-suffering  and 
mercy.  When  evil  doers  are  allowed  for  a  time  to  go 
on  in  prosperity,  they  should  not  presume,  for  there  is  a 
righteous  God,  that  judgeth  in  the  earth  ;  and  when  his 
judgments  fall  on  the  guilty,  he  will  cut  short  his  awful 
work  in  terrible  righteousness.  But  mercy  is  remem- 
bered amidst  deserved  wrath.  The  penitent  is  not  there- 
fore to  despair,  for  God  is  merciful  as  well  as  just. 
Samson  may  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines  ;  even 


o 


312  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

the  ark  of  God  may  be  in  the  camp  of  the  uncircu in- 
cised, and  be  brought  into  the  temple  of  their  great 
Dagon  ;  but  Jehovah  is  still  supreme  over  all  the  gods. 
His  arm  is  still  omnipotent.  There  is  indeed  no  god  but 
God.  The  idols  of  the  heathen  are  all  vanity  and  lies. 
The  ruins  of  the  house  of  the  Philistine  lords  and  the 
dismembered  image  of  Dagon  in  his  own  temple  before 
Jehovah's  ark  are  directly  in  proof,  that  their  god  is  not 
as  our  God,  even  our  enemies  themselves  being  judges. 

2.  Jehovah  is  the  only  sovereign.     His  government  is 
supreme  over  all  tribes  and  nations.     The  history  of  the 
Canaanites,  Philistines  and  Hebrews  proves  that  it  is 
Jehovah's  pleasure  to  take  cognizance  of  all  his  creatures 
on  earth --to  observe  and  rule  over  them  as  families, 
peoples  and  individuals.     As  all  the  spokes  of  a  wheel 
turn  round  when  the  wheel  revolves,  so  a  general  provi- 
dence necessarily  implies  a  particular  oversight  of  al)  the 
universe.     How  else  could  there  have  been  any  proph- 
ecy, or  fulfillment  of  promises  ?     In  the  prophecies  ful- 
filled, and  in  those  yet  to  be  accomplished,  we  find  an 
individual  and  a  national  application.     The  prophecies 
referred  sometimes  in  part  to  the  personal  history  of  the 
individual,  but  generally  or  chiefly  to  his  posterity.     This 
is  true  of  Abraham,  Ishmael,  Esau  and  Jacob.     Hence 
the  distinctness  with  which  the  line  of  their  descendants 
was  preserved*     It  were  a  great  gain  for  the  politics  and 
economics  of  communities  and  nations,  if  the  providence 
of  God  were  more  distinctly  recognized.     Every  chap- 
ter of  our  national  history  is  replete  with  proofs  of  God's 
presence.     His  hand  has  written  all  our  history. 

3.  Again,  it  appears  that  God  governs  the  world  upon 
eternal  principles  —  and  not  from  fancy  or  passion.  These 


DIVIXE    LAWS    APPLIED.  313 

principles  are  still  in  actual  operation.  A  priori  we 
should  argue  that  such  must  be  the  divine  government 
of  the  universe.  And  historically  we  find  it  preeminently 
so.  The  Creator  is  as  really  supreme  over  modern 
nations,  as  over  ancient  nations.  Jehovah  was  as  truly 
the  God  of  Washington  as  of  Moses,  only  Moses  was  his 
lieutenant  in  an  age  of  miracles.  It  is  as  true  now  as 
it  was  then,  that  sin  defiles  a  land,  and  that  God  blesses 
obedience  and  punishes  disobedience  to  his  laws.  Divine 
laws  in  morals  are  as  immutable  as  in  physics.  God  is 
just  as  supreme  in  the  streets  of  the  city  as  in  the  path- 
ways of  the  planets.  His  ear  is  as  open  to  prayer  now 
in  San  Francisco  as  it  ever  was  in  Solomon's  temple. 
And  happiness  everywhere,  in  heaven  and  earth,  is 
nothing  but  a  full  hearted,  cheerful  harmony  with  the 
will  of  God.  In  keeping  his  commandments,  there  is 
great  reward. 

4.  When  patience  has  done  its  perfect  work — when 
the  hour  of  retribution  has  fully  come,  then  there  is  no 
escape  from  the  Almighty.     The  universe  itself  in  ruins 
and  in  heaps  upon  heaps  upon  the  guilty  could  not  hide 
them  from   the  all-seeing  eye,  nor  prevent  him  from 
bringing  them  to  judgment.     The  old  world,  the  Egyp- 
tians, the   cities  of  the  plain  and  the  history  of  the 
chosen  people,  as  well  as  of  the  Philistines  and  Canaan- 
ites  proves  this. 

5.  But  Samson's  life  illustrates  divine  laws  in  their 
application  as  well  as  in  theory.     In  solving  the  riddle 
of  his  character  we  have  truth  objective  and  subjective. 
The  glimpses  we  get  of  his  spiritual  life  are  sad  enough. 
His  weakness  and  inconsistencies  ars  so  mortifying  as  to 
be   almost   incredible.     His  infatuation   for   Philistine 

N 


314  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

women  rendered  him  apparently  blind  to  their  heathen- 
ism and  their  enmity  towards  Israel.  Philistine  maids 

•i 

frequently  vanquished  the  champion  that  was  to  deliver 
Israel  out  of  the  hands  of  their  oppressive  countrymen. 
An  old  writer  very  nearly  expresses  the  facts  of  this 
history,  when  he  says,  it  was  not  so  much  Samson  that 
overcame  the  Philistine  men,  as  Philistine  women  that 
conquered  Samson. 

6.  Sin  is  an  awfully  steep  precipice,  and  as  slippery 
as  steep.  I  know  we  are  ready  to  cry  out  at  Samson's 
stupidity  and  Delilah's  impudent  treachery.  And  truly 
never  was  a  man  so  overcome  by  flagons  of  wine,  as, 

V 

this  Nazarite  was  by  his  love  for   Delilah.     We  are 
almost  ready  to  think  Samson  must  have  been  void  of 
common  sense,  when,  after  she  had  betrayed  him  three 
times,  he  should  listen  to  her  fourth  proposal,  and  actu- 
ally yield.     And  yet  are  there  none  of  you,  that  have 
yielded  to  temptation  not  only  three  times,  and  then  a 
fourth  time,  but  ten  times  ten  ?     Is   not  every  trans- 
gressor against  God's  laws  as  stupid  as  our  infatuated 
judge  ?     Sinful  pleasures  lodged  and  entertained  in  our 
bosoms  are  as  dangerous  and  as  treacherous  as  Delilah. 
In  our  better  moments  we  know  they  aim   at  nothing 
less  than  our  destruction.     We  know  the  wages  of  sin 
is  death,  and  yet  we  yield  !     Every  one  that  yields  to 
the  intoxicating  cup,  to  the  strange  woman's  smile?,  or 
to  the  demon  of  fraud  or  of  gambling,  is   like  Samson 
sleeping  in  Delilah's  lap,  to  wake  up  bereft  of  strength 
and  peace  of  mind.     Thrice  the  armed  Philistines  came 
out  of  their  hiding-place  to  bind  him,  and  yet  he  yields 
to  the  fourth  temptation.     Oh,  what  madness  !     Fly  at 
once.     Resist  the  devil  and  he  will  flee  from  you.     But 


THE    LIBERT1XF/S    HISSING    M1LLSTOXE.          315 

if  you  parley  with  him,  he  will    bind   you   fast  in  his 
chains. 

All  sins  hang  together  like  links  in  a  chain.     Delilah 
was  a  heathen.     She  had  not  the  fear  of  God  before 
her  eyes,  and   as   she  wanted  virtue,  it  is   not   strange 
that  she  was  perfidious.     And  so  like  india-rubber  is 
conscience  now-a-days,  that,  if  it   is  used  at  ail,  it  is 
easily  stretched,  and  though  hard  to  be  washed  clean,  it 
is  nevertheless  often  turned.     So  naturally  and  lovingly 
do  sinful  ways  rim  together  and  follow  each  other,  that 
men  do  often  educate  their  conscience  to  call  good  evil, 
and   evil  good  ;  and  "  compound  for  sins  they  are  in- 
clined to,  by  damning  those  they  have  no  mind  to.''     If, 
in  straining  at  the  gnat,  they  do  not  swaliow  a  camel  the 
iirst  time,  they  will  soon  be  able,  from  repeated  trials, 
to  swallov/  the  whole  caravan,  gnats  and  all.     The  liar 
is  not  satisfied  till  he  steals.     And  the  thief  soon  kills  ; 
the  drunkard  is  as  lewd  as  he  is  full  of  wine,  and  she 
that  traffics  with  her  personal  charms  is  as  false  as  she 
is  vile.     And  he  that  dwells  with  a  concubine,  to  avoid 
the  manly  responsibilities  of  a  lawful   family,  finds  in 
the  end  that  instead  of  having  a  jewel  around  his  neck, 
he  has  bound  himself,  soul  and  bod}',  to  a  burning  mill- 
stone, that  is  dragging  him  hissing  down  to  the  pit.     A 
person  given  up   to   one   sin  is   sold  to   iniquity.     By 
yielding  to  one  sin,  a  greater  susceptibility  is  created 
for  others,  and  in   the   same  proportion  he  is  shorn  of 
strength  to  resist  temptation  and  to  maintain  his  hold  on 
virtue.     He  that   does   not   make  it   a  matter  of  con- 
science to  abide  by  right  principles  in  everything  and 
every  whnv,  is  not  to  be  trusted  in  anything. 

7.    We  sse  that  an  ill-balanced  character  is  a  sadly  de- 


316  THE     GIANT    JUDGE. 

fective  one.  If  Samson  had  been  as  prudent  as  he  was 
strong,  as  pious  as  he  was  patriotic,  what  a  splendid 
hero  he  would  have  been  !  But  symmetry  of  character 
is  also  sadly  wanting  in  modern  times.  Some  are  re- 
markable for  their  zeal,  who  make  their  public  concern 
for  the  conversion  of  men  cover  their  want  of  attention 
to  their  own  families.  But  can  a  man  be  called  of  G,  d 
to  one  duty  at  the  expense  of  another — and  in  this 
case  of  a  prior  and  paramount  one  ?  Others  are  re- 
markable for  their  denominational  or  church  zeal,  but 
their  daily  walk  is  so  irregular,  that  even  when  they  are 
not  absolutely  guilty  of  moral  delinquencies  in  the  sight 
of  the  law,  their  advocacy  of  religion  is  not  a  recom- 
mendation. Others  are  text-quoting  defenders  of  the 
Bible,  but  the  light  that  is  in  them  is  smothered.  The 
word  of  God  dwells  in  them,  but  is  not  friutful.  They 
are  cold  as  icicles.  Another  takes  the  Bible  for  his 
directory.  He  loves  its  truth,  and  he  has  some  experi- 
mental knowledge  of  divine  grace  in  his  heart ;  but  he 
is  so  ill-tempered,  so  peevish,  so  irritable,  that  the  sym- 
metry of  his  character  is  destroyed.  Men  admit  his 
sincerity  of  purpose,  but  wonder  that  so  good  a  man 
should  be  so  weak  as  to  allow  himself  to  be  carried 
away  with  passion.  O  how  much  would  the  church 
gain  if  all  its  members  were  complete  in  Christ ! 

8.  In  Samson's  life  we  see  that  constitutional  sins  are 
peculiarly  dangerous.  It  is  true  God  employs  men  as 
his  agents,  who  are  not  perfect.  Even  great  men  are 
not  without  errors.  Believers  on  earth  are  not  saints 
glorified.  In  the  course  of  this  work  it  has  been  inti- 
mated several  times  that  we  have  only  a  skeleton  history 
of  the  giant  judge.  Of  long  periods  we  have  no  me- 


THE    NATIO:\">    FOUMKV'iToX    >TOM-;>.  r»l  7 

moir  at  all,  and  of  great  achievements  we  have  but  a 
simple  record  of  the  fact.  His  faults  are  detailed.  His 
good  deeds  not  so  fully  chronicled,  if  we  may  say  so 
without  irreverence,  our  narrative  does  not  seem  to  take 
pleasure  in  his  exploits,  but  simply  to  set  forth  how 
divine  sovereignty  overruled  them.  His  attachment  to 
the  Timnite,  his  fall  at  Gaza,  and  his  blind  affection  for 
Delilah,  and  his  conflicts  with  the  Philistines  are  re- 
corded so  far  as  seemed  to  be  necessary  to  furnish  us 
with  the  proof  that  the  promise  to  his  parents  was  faith- 
fully kept,  and  no  more.  It  seems  almost  as  if  infinite 
wisdom  here  illustrated  how  sorry  an  agent  might  per- 
form mighty  deeds,  and  how  sovereign  grace  could  at 
last  reign  where  sin  had  abounded. 

9.  Samson's  life  very  properly  leads  us  to  the  purify, 
sacredness  and  stability  of  the  marriage  relation.  The 
family  is  the  foundation  stone  for  national  weli-bein^. 
We  must  at  any  price,  at  any  and  every  sacrifice,  pre- 
serve out1  Christian  homes,  as  the  fountains  of  principle 
and  piety.  And  never  was  iliere  an  age  nor  a  people 
with  whom  so  much  depended  upon  the  maintenance  of 
sound  principles  and  of  true  religion  in  the  family  as 
with  us.  If  we  yield  here  all  is  lost.  Our  public  in- 
stitutions will  be  as  the  new  cords  on  Samson's  arms, 
mere  cinders,  if  the  principles  of  high  morality  andtri;>j 
religion  are  not  taught  in  our  HOM.KS.  Thorough  train- 
ing and  instruction  mii5t  be  given  to  the  children  of  this 
Republic.  And  this  work  must  be  begun  early  at  home, 
and  continued  long  at  home,  and  the  school  must  never 
supersede  the  home.  We  have  found  Manoah's  solici- 
tude about  the  bringing  up  of  his  angel-announced  son 
natural  nnd  proper.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  consider 


318  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

the  education  of  a  child  an  individual  blessing  rather 
than  a  general  one  —  personal,  rather  than  social.  The 
advantages  of  education  are  indeed  personal,  and  just 
in  so  far  as  they  are  a  blessing  to  the  individual  mem- 
bers of  society,  in  the  same  degree  they  are  a  bless- 
ing to  society  itself.  The  Bible  teaches  us  that  no  one 
has  a  right  to  segregate  himself  from  his  fellow-men, 
with  Cain-like  indifference,  for  their  well-being,  But 
an  educated  mind  has  extensive  relations  with  the 
world.  It  is  then  contrary  to  the  first  and  highest 
claims  of  humanity  that  it  should  refuse  to  shed  its 
benign  influences  upon  society.  Nay,  it  is  impossible 
to  escape  such  a  responsibility.  Intellect  can  no  more 
exist  without  responsibility  than  matter  without  gravi- 
tation. Responsibility  is  as  inseparable  from  our  indi- 
vidual existence  as  our  personal  identity.  Escape  from 
it  is  as  impossible  as  annihilation.  We  must,  then, 
meet  it  as  men,  and  justify  the  claims  of  God  and  man 
upon  us,  or  turn  traitors  to  the  society  of  the  universe 
and  its  ineffable  Creator.  In  the  measure,  therefore, 
that  we  are  blessed  with  talents,  faculties  and  attain- 
ments, are  our  responsibilities  increased.  Where  much 
is  given,  much  is  required.  He  that  knows  his  Lord's 
will,  and  does  it  not,  shall  be  beaten  ivith  many  stripes. 
As  the  glory  of  a  State  is  but  the  aggregated  glory  of 
its  several  citizens,  so  whatever  contributes  to  the  men- 
tal enjoyment,  social  worth,  productive  industry,  com- 
mercial reputation  for  integrity,  and  to  the  moral 
elevation  of  the  individual  members  of  the  State,  mu*t 
be  regarded  as  contributing  also  to  its  welfare  and  glory. 
The  received  maxim,  then,  that  it  is  easier  and  cheaper 
to  prevent  crime  than  to  vindicate  the  laws  and  reform 


THE    IONIAN    ISLANDS    A    WARNING.  319 

the  transgressor,  should  be  universally  put  into  practice. 
The  vices  of  ignorance  and  depravity  cost  the   State 
more   than  school-houses   and   teachers.      The  public 
safety  under  a  free  government  requires  that  all  the 
youth  be  instructed  in  knowledge  and  morality.     And 
in  attaining  such  blessings  the  greatest  good  of  individ- 
uals is  identical  with  that  of  the  community.     For  a 
number  of  years  there  has  been  no  want  of  energy  on 
the  part  of  the  press  of  Great  Britain  and  this  country 
in  advocating  the  enlightenment  of  the  people  in  order 
to  the  enjoyment  of  free  institutions.     We  are  almost 
wearied  with  references  to  Greece  and   Rome,  and  the 
attempts  at  Republics  in  past  ages  by  people  not  capa- 
ble of  preserving  freedom,  nor  indeed  able  to  compre- 
hend what  it  is.     The  Ionian  islands  is  a  remarkable 
instance,  however,  that  is  not  so  often  referred  to.    Their 
history  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  hopelessness  of  a 
people  undertaking  to  govern  themselves  without  the 
requisite  intelligence,  morality  and  religion.     They  have 
played  very  nearly  the  same  game  for  many  years. 
"  Three  times,  at  very  wide  intervals,  has  Corfu,  (the 
ancient  Corcyra,)  found  it  necessary  to  abnegate,  more 
or  less  completely,  a  political  independence  of  which  it 
was  incapable,  and  to  place  itself  under  the  sovereignty 
or  protection  of  the  power  which  in  each  of  those  re- 
spective ages  was  mistress  of  the  seas."'      At  one  time 
Corcyra  was  obliged  to  seek  abroad  refuge  from  her 
own  selfish   policy  and  her   own   internal    factions   by 
throwing  herself  into  the  arms  of  Athens.     At  another 
time  she  was  compelled  to  seek  protection  against  her- 

*  London  Quarterly  Review,  October.  1852,  p.  168. 


320  THE    GIAXT    .H:I><;F. 

self  under  the  banner  of  Venice.  And  then  again  from 
an  abortive  attempt  to  form  a  Republic,  the  lonians 
threw  themselves  at  the  feet  of  Russia,  then  of  France, 
and  finally  passed  under  the  protectorate  of  Great 
Britain.  In  1802  they  sent  M.  Naranzi  as  envoy  to 
Alexander,  Emperor  of  Russia,  begging  that  with  an 
'•  imposing  armed  force,"  he  would  save  them  from  the 
cruel  sufferings  of  their  attempts  at  self-government. 
They  directed  their  envoy  to  say  to  the  Czar  :  "  That 
the  inhabitants  of  the  seven  islands,  who  had  attempted 
to  establish  a  republican  form  of  government,  are  neither 
born,  free,  nor  are  they  instructed  in  any  art  of  govern- 
ment, nor  are  they  possessed  of  moderation  so  as  to  live 
peaceably  under  any  government  formed  by  their  own 
countrymen"  This  was  certainly  very  remarkable  lan- 
guage for  a  people  having  intelligence  enough  to  struggle 
to  be  free,  and  yet  not  able  to  govern  themselves.  But 
all  history  is  a  demonstration  of  its  correctness.  Italy 
and  France,  Central  and  South  America  are  monu- 
ments proving  to  all  the  world  that  sanctified  intelli- 
gence among  the  people  alone  can  save  them  from  the 
cruelties  of  self-government.  Mere  knowlege  is  not 
enough.  There  must  be  constitutional  laws,  and  right 
principles  must  be  deeply  implanted  in  the  bosoms  of 
those  that  would  be  free.  Men  can  not  govern  them- 
selves unless  they  abide  immutably  by  the  laws  and 
constitution  that  guarantee  their  freedom.  The  great 
English  historian,  (Macaulay's  speech  at  Edinburgh.) 
has  in  his  usually  happy  way  described  the  very  danger 
we  so  seriously  apprehend.  "  I  remember,"  says,  he, 
"that  Adam. Smith  and  Gibbon  had  told  us  that  there 
would  never  again  be  a  destruction  of  civilization  by 


DUTY    OF    CHRISTIAN    MOTHERS.  321 

barbarians.  The  flood,  they  said,  would  no  more  return 
to  cover  the  earth ;  and  they  seemed  to  reason  justly, 
for  they  compared  the  immense  strength  of  the  civilized 
part  of  the  world  with  the  weakness  of  that  part  which 
remained  savage,  and  asked  from  whence  were  to  come 
those  Huns,  and  from  whence  were  to  come  those  Van- 
dals, who  were  again  to  destroy  civilization  ?  Alas  !  it 
did  not  occur  to  them  that  civilization  itself  might 
engender  the  barbarians  who  should  destroy  it.  It  did 
not  occur  to  them  that  in  the  very  heart  of  great  capi- 
tals, in  the  very  neighborhood  of  splendid  palaces,  and 
churches,  and  theatres,  and  libraries,  and  museums,  vice 
and  ignorance  and  misery  might  produce  a  race  of 
Huns  fiercer  than  those  who  marched  under  Attilla, 
and  Vandals  more  bent  on  destruction  than  those  who 
followed  Genzeric." 

10.  Samson  is  a  pictorial  of  a  mother's  anxiety  and 
influence.  We  have  no  powers  of  analysis  sufficient  to 
disintegrate  the  virtue,  and  freedom,  and  prosperity  of 
modern  Christendom,  so  as  to  show  the  proportion  and 
amount  of  its  well-doing  and  well-being  that  is  dis- 
tinctly to  be  traced  to  the  influence  of  Christian  mothers  ; 
but  it  is  paramount  to  all  other  sources  of  power.  For 
example,  who  can  measure  the  forming  energy  of 
WASHINGTON  upon  the  destinies  of  the  American  peo- 
ple and  of  the  world  ?  And  yet  in  the  chronicles  of 
the  invisible  world  the  character  of  that  great  patriot 
was  formed  by  the  training  of  his  mother.  And  upon 
examination,  we  find  his  mother's  favorite  author  to 
have  been  the  great  Christian  judge,  the  English  Sir 
Matthew  Hale.  The  identical  copy  she  used  is  still 
cherished  as  an  heir-loom,  in  the  family.  JSIow  in  the 


322  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

"  Contemplations  "  of  Sir  Matthew  Hale  we  have  an 
essay  on  "The  Good  Steward,"  and  a  series  of  ''  Medi- 
tations "  on  the  Lord's  Prayer.  And  in  these  works  of 

V 

the  learned  and  pious  judge,  we  find  the  germs  of 
Washington's  great  character.  These  works  were  his 
mother's  manual  when  she  was  training  him  for  the 
high  destinies  for  which  a  supreme  providence  was  pre- 
paring him.  Here  we  have  the  very  principles  taught, 
and  the  very  precepts  inculcated,  that  were  fitted  to  pro- 
duce the  traits  characteristic  of  the  American  patriot. 
Moderation,  self-control,  sobriety,  integrity,  and  a  well- 
balanced  judgment,  and  an  habitual  recognition  of  God's 
will  and  dependence  on  an  overruling  providence,  have, 
great  prominence  in  the  Briton's  pages.  And  these 
are  the  very  elements  of  Washington's  character.  More 
than  one  hundred  times  we  find  him  in  his  letter.-:, 
speaking  of  his  dependence  on  God's  providence.  And 
throughout  his  life,  we  have  "  the  composure  of  the 
Areopagus  carried  into  the  struggles  of  Thermopylae" 
The  beauty  and  the  glory  of  his  character  is  its  combi- 
nation of  integrity,  moral  goodness,  heroic  courage, 
with  judicial  sagacity  and  serenity  amid  all  the  fierce 
conflicts  of  a  great  and  successful  Revolution.  What 
mother  is  there,  then,  who  is  not  willing  to  forego  some, 
or  all  of  the  pleasures  of  fashion,  and  spend  her  strength 
in  teaching,  and  toiling,  and  praying  for  her  child,  s< 
ing  that  it  is  given  to  her  by  the  Great  Father  of  all 
spirits  more  than  to  any  other  to  unseal  the  fountain  of 

•/ 

its  being  and  form  the  channel  in  which  it  is  to  flow 
forever?  The  mother's  example  and  lessons  arc  the. 
passages  of  experimental  divinity  and  social  philosophy 
that  are  never  forgotten.  l»y  them  we  both  live  and 


RESPONSIBILITY    OF    YOUNG    MEN.  323 

die.  The  tribute  which  one  of  our  Chief  Magistrates, 
JOHN  QDINCY  ADAMS,  paid  to  his  mother,  expresses 
what  almost  every  one  feels  to  be  true.  "  It  is  due," 
said  he,  "  to  gratitude  and  nature,  that  I  should  acknowl- 
edge and  avow  that,  such  as  I  have  been,  whatever  it 
was,  such  as  I  am,  whatever  it  is,  and  such  as  I  hope 
to  be  in  all  futurity,  must  be  ascribed,  under  provi- 
dence, to  the  precepts,  prayers  and  example  of  my 
mother." 

Finally.  We  beseech  you,  young  men,  because  you 
are  strong,  remember  your  responsibility  for  your  influ- 
ence upon,  society.  You  are  invested  with  an  immor- 
tality that  you  cannot  lay  aside.  When  you  die  and  leave 
the  world  into  which  you  have  been  born,  your  influence 
will  walk  the  earth  and  represent  you  where  you  person- 
ally will  be  known  no  more.  Aim  then  by  God's  help 
to  be  a  fountain  of  good  influences  and  not  of  evil.  In 
Samson  you  have  a  solemn  warning  against  the  wiles  of 
the  strange  woman  of  whom  Solomon  has  said  :  u  I  find 
more  bitter  than  death  the  woman  whose  heart  is  snares 
and  nets,  and  her  hands  are  bands  ;  whoso  pleaseth  God 
shall  escape  from  her  ;  but  the  sinner  shall  be  taken  by 
her." 

Forget  not  your  dedication  to  God,  nor  disappoint  the 
just  expectations  of  your  friends.  Ponder  well  what 
your  country  expects  of  you.  Remember  your  patri- 
mony and  your  age.  Fill  your  minds  with  objects 
illustrious  as  your  antecedents  are  hopeful.  You  are 
surrounded  by  living  voices  calling  you  to  maintain  the 
principles  and  faith  of  sires  past  into  glory.  Put  on  the 
whole  armor  of  light,  and  by  self-control,  and  by  high 
principles,  and  by  an  incorruptible  love  for  truth  and  for 


324  THE     GIANT     JUDGE. 

your  country,  rebuke  whatever  billows  may  rise  to 
threaten  the  ark  of  your  fathers,  and  make  them  roll  at 
your  feet  soft  as  the  swelling  of  a  summer's  sea.  Serve 
well  your  generation  according  to  the  will  of  God,  and 
then  when  you  are  laid  to  rest,  though  it  be  far  from  the 
home  of  your  youth,  and  in  dust  that  knoweth  not  the 
bones  of  your  fathers,  still  you  will  rest  in  peace,  and  the 
everlasting  God  will  be  your  eternal  portion.  What- 
ever good  you  do  in  the  world  will  live  and  come  home 
with  its  harvest  of  glory  at  the  judgment  day  ;  and 
whatever  evil  you  do,  if  not  repented  of  and  forgiven, 
will  go  on  increasing  its  guilt  until  it  is  garnered  on  your 
heart  amid  the  awful  realities  of  eternity.  They  that 
turn  many  to  righteousness  shall  shine  as  the  stars  of  the 
firmament  forever  and  ever  ;  and  they  that  have  turned 
many  to  evil  shall  burn  as  pyramids  of  fire,  embosoming 
like  so  many  unquenchable  molochs,  the  souls  of  those 
they  have  seduced  from  truth  and  innocence  and  drag- 
ged down  to  ruin,  and  the  curses  of  all  good  men  and  of 
all  the  holy  angels,  and  of  God  Almighty  shall  fall  upon 
them  forever  and  ever. 

And  thou,  my  son,  know  thou  the  God  of  thy  father, 
and  serve  him  with  a  perfect  heart  and  with  a  willing 
mind :  for  the  LORD  searcheth  all  hearts,  and  understand- 
eth  all  the  imaginations  of  the  thoughts :  if  thou  seek  him, 
he  will  he  found  ofthee:  if  thou  forsake  him,  he  witt  cast 
thee  off  forever. 


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